A Future Worth Fighting For
by cathinda1
Summary: Monsters aren't born, they're created. Surrounded by darkness, eventually that's what you'll become. Taylor was just a girl until she became an experiment, now she just wants to keep her family safe. Her brothers, sisters, daughter, nieces. But how long can you walk on a tightrope before you fall off. USED TO BE "TOO YOUNG FOR HEROES"
1. Though We Don't Share The Same Blood

**Warning: References to torture, depression, PTSD, miscarriage, non-consensual drug use, and other triggers run throughout this piece. Please take this into account if you find any of these to be sensitive for you. I will list chapter specific warnings at the beginnings of each chapter but the ones above are specific for the entire piece.**

John was tense, that much was clear. He'd been sat in front of the same computer screen for the best part of four hours now. John couldn't help the anguish inside of him, his wife was missing. She'd been heading to get some mutants safe, but they'd all been grabbed, John had tracked them as best he could but there was still no sign of her. For all John knew, Clarice was dead.  
"Don't think that." Muttered a voice from behind him, he shot round, having not heard Taylor Strucker-Nobel, his best friend – his baby sister, come into the room,  
"Don't think what, Tay?" The woman rolled her red eyes, John knew it was never going to work but he didn't need a lecture from Taylor right now,  
"Y'know, there are times when being stuck in your head is really gross, other times it's really helpful." John scoffed before turning back to the computer screen,  
"Look, Clare's strong, she's a survivor, she managed to survive while you were all away or while we weren't with her, she managed to survive after the complications throughout her pregnancy. John, she'll get through this." John wasn't so sure. Clarice always did have a way of getting back to them and surviving despite the odds, but this was different, this wasn't just she'd gotten lost in the woods, she'd been taken by Sentinel Services! It wasn't simple!

The pair stood in silence for a few minutes, neither wanted to disrupt the other, but neither wanted to be on their own. They found comfort in the other being close, in their minds linking to each other and holding them together. A few more minutes passed before the door to the office was pulled open,  
"You guys need to see this!" Marcos shouted before running back towards the tech room. Taylor and John shared a glance before following the direction he went.

Once in the tech room they saw the police surveillance tracking an escapee from a relocation facility,  
"Oh my god!" Taylor muttered,  
"Clarice!" John added. They caught a glimpse of where the police were tailing Clarice, but the trio were already heading out of the room, Lorna catching up with them. All four ran outside towards the car, Sonia watched them, and her eyes darted to a closed door, behind which were four four-year-old girls sleeping soundly.

Four small girls that she couldn't stand. The eldest was Evie Proudstar, she may have been the eldest of the girls, but she was definitely the smallest. Evie was also the most ordinary looking of the girls with dark brown hair and tanned skin, her hair had some small streaks of purple. Evie was born on September 2nd, 2013 at 11:44pm

The second eldest was Evie's twin sister Rose, rose pink hair made her clearly different from her sister, that and their eyes – while Rose had John's brown eyes, Evie had inherited her mother's jade green orbs. Not to mention that Rose was nearly two inches taller than Evie. Despite Rose and Evie being twins, they had different birthdays with Rose being 15 minutes younger than her twin; she was born at 00:01am on September 3rd, 2013. Rose was almost deaf, she had been the reason all of her family learnt sign language, it meant she could be part of any conversation.

Aroura Diaz was the third eldest, the best friend to Evie was a chaotic bundle of energy with hair the same colours as the Aurora Borealis, she and Evie had been inseparable since the day they'd met three years ago. Though, even at four, Evie did like to remind Aurora that she was 11 days older.

The same story was with Rose and Imogen Noble, the youngest girl was the most boisterous, a mass of neon colours that never stopped moving at full speed, though that pair had known each other since they were born, Rose had been nearly a month old when Imogen was born on the 30th of September 2013. The adults all found it quite funny how outgoing and boisterous Imogen was considering her mother could go days – weeks even - without speaking at all.

Sonia had never been able to get on with the girls, she just didn't like them, especially the twins. She couldn't explain where her dislike for them came from, but it was clearer than anything else. It was also fair to say that Sonia hated Taylor and Clarice. She hated Taylor because after everything the red-eyed woman had done, she was allowed to stay at the HQ. Sonia always though that Taylor was the worst form of monster.

The rain hammered down around them as the car that the quartet had left in ground to a halt, John practically threw himself out of the drivers sear and instantly began tracking to check where Clarice was. Marcos held Lorna to his side, the cold rain making them shiver. Neither John or Taylor seemed to notice the cold, though that didn't surprise Marcos and Lorna, the marine and ex-prisoner were good at hiding things, they were especially good if one of their family was in danger.

Taylor's eyes searched the alleyway while Marcos created light over what remained of a police light,  
"Got something!" He called, causing John and Taylor to run towards it. John lifted one and could feel the remnants of Clarice's powers on them. Taylor slapped John's shoulder, grabbing his attention. The youngest in the group motioned her head towards the warehouse that seemed hidden in the dark and rain.

Slowly, Taylor edged towards the building, John wasn't so subtle considering he had sensed Clarice inside. He kicked in the door which only caused Taylor to roll her eyes, she knew John was normally the most rational of the group, but when Clarice or the twins or even her were in danger, all rationality went out the window in order to protect his family.  
"Clarice?!" John called, Taylor let out an exasperated sigh,  
"Yeah because that helps us remain hidden," she hissed at him,  
"C'mon Tay, it's fine." John shot back. Taylor moved her hand, motioning for Lorna and Marcos to check the back room while she and John would search the main warehouse.

The sound of police cars approaching was what caused them to run into the back room, John saw Clarice and pulled her into his arm, hugging her impossibly tight. The sound of the sirens forced the pair to join the others in the main room,  
"Kill the lights!" Taylor whispered, Lorna obliged while the others flipped tables and hid behind them or behind walls.

Weapons fire forced them to duck, Lorna began messing with the police and their weapons and Taylor kept causing them pain for the briefest of moments. A blinding light erupted followed by a yell as Marcos ordered them out of the warehouse.

Running out of the warehouse, John gripped Clarice's hand as he led her towards the car, not once letting it slip. In what seemed like a split second, Marcos fell down as a bullet scraped his arm. Taylor turned, running back to grab her 'brother' as Lorna began attacking the police officer that shot her boyfriend.  
"Lorna! C'mon!" Called Taylor as Marcos began fighting against Taylor.

Police officers poured out of the warehouse, one tasered Lorna, forcing her to the ground where they cuffed her hands. Taylor threw Marcos into the back seat of the car before he could get a chance to get away. Taylor turned back to look at Lorna who was being hauled to her feet, the older woman nodded. That was all Taylor needed; she climbed into the car and John sped off before the police to grab them all.

* * *

Andy Strucker sat on the floor outside his student councilor's office, his sketchbook on his lap as he drew, attempting to ignore the rest of the world – or at least the rest of his school. Inside the office, Caitlin and Reed Strucker were talking with Andy's councilor.  
"I understand you have some concerns about your son, Andy?" The man asked, Reed took up speaking,  
"Yes, we believe he's being bullied." The teacher looked taken aback, his face stiffened,  
"Belleview High has a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying."  
"That's why we came." Caitlin explained, her eyes darting between her husband and her son's teacher.  
"Um, Andy and I have always been very close, but lately he… he just stopped talking to me." Reed explained,  
"It's affecting his grades." Caitlin added, "he-he's not sleeping."  
"In situations like this, we like to use the "CARE" system communicate, adjust, reconcile and empathize." The teacher began, "first, we take the kids, and we put them together to talk."  
"These boys are-are tormenting our son." Caitlin exclaimed, not understand the teacher's approach.  
"I understand that's upsetting."  
"Stop right there." Reed stated, causing the man to freeze. "Let me be clear. Andy needs help, and if he doesn't get it, I will sue this school into oblivion."  
"Mr. Strucker, we have procedures. I can't-"  
"Then get someone who can. Now."  
"Okay, I'll-I'll be right back." And with that, the teacher left the room.

Caitlin and Reed sat alone for a few minutes before Reed was called away to deal with a mutant situation. Caitlin smiled as her husband left the room, he protected them from mutant threats.

As evening fell, Lauren and Andy arrived back home, Lauren stood in her room, video calling her boyfriend, she held two outfits in her hands,  
"You really have no preference? They're two completely different outfits!" Her exasperation was evident in her voice.  
"I dunno… the blue one, that one looks nice." He offered. Lauren continued talking with him for a few more minutes before Caitlin called her and Andy down for dinner.

The three sat in silence for a few minutes before Caitlin turned to Lauren,  
"So, Lauren, how was choir?"  
"Good. We're practicing for the spring concert."  
"Are you still going to the dance tonight? Want me to show you some of my moves?" Lauren scoffed,  
"No, thank you."

Caitlin laughed for a moment before turning to Andy,  
"How about you? How was your day?"  
"Uh, bad." Caitlin looked to him with worry, "I mean, you were there." Caitlin let out a laugh of relief,  
"I meant your classes. Anything interesting?"  
"We had a debate in social studies about the law they want to make to test people with the X-gene and, like, monitor them. I don't know. Anyway, this one kid was, like, freaking out.  
I guess his cousin's a mutie or something." Lauren scoffed, her eyes filled with pain,  
"Mutie, Andy? Racist much?" She hated the way people treated mutants, she remembered Taylor a lot more than Andy did.  
"What? Person of genetic difference." Andy said sarcastically,  
"You are such an ass! What about Taylor? Is she just a 'mutie' to you too?!" Lauren snapped causing Andy and Caitlin to freeze, everyone knew that Taylor was the one part of the Strucker family that wasn't mentioned,  
"Really, Lauren? Taylor's dead. If she's not dead, then she abandoned us." Andy snapped back.  
"Enough." Caitlin yelled, silencing the two teenagers, "okay, please. You're fighting about social studies class now. Can we not have a normal conversation?" Neither of the two kids spoke, "guess not." Caitlin muttered, returning to her dinner.

* * *

Nearly 12 hours passed before anyone came towards Lorna who was being held in a clearly temporary cell, her powers were uninhibited, and the cuffs were plastic zip ties. The man approached the cell,  
"Ms. Dane. My name is Reed Strucker." Lorna narrowed her eyes at the man, he was the man who had caused Taylor years of locking herself away from anyone, Lorna didn't try to mask the hatred on her face. This man had hurt her littlest sister and she would give him Hell for Taylor if she could.  
"This is my associate, Carla Jackson -" Lorna had enough of playing calm,  
"I'd offer you a seat, but..." she motioned around the empty cell which held nothing but her inside,  
"You're accused of the attempted murder of two police officers. That plus the enhanced sentencing due to the use of your mutant abilities-" Reed was interrupted by Lorna who rolled her eyes,  
"Equals I'm screwed! Yeah. I got that part." Lorna's eyes turned cold as she glared at the man, hating every bone within his body.  
"Look all I know is that I was walkin' home when these cops shot at me." Lorna lied with a shrug of her shoulders, Reed approached the door to the cell,  
"Come on, Ms. Dane. You and I both know that you and your associates in the Mutant Underground have aided and abetted dozens, if not hundreds, of fugitives," Lorna couldn't help but smirk as her friend's father entered her cell despite the warning of his associate,  
"Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you. These are serious charges, attempted murder -" Lorna twisted her had slightly, the man cried out slightly in pain as Lorna messed with screws in his knee,  
"Those screws in your knee? An old sports injury? If I wanted to, I could pull out those screws and show you some attempted murder. If I wanted those cops dead, they'd be dead." Lorna dropped her hand making Reed lift a piece of paper from his file and show it to Lorna,  
"There's a factor that you may not be aware of." Lorna's eyes widened as she looked at the piece of paper,  
"I'm gonna ask the court to assign you a lawyer, okay? You've got a big decision to make, Ms. Dane." Reed stepped back from Lorna who was shaking, he left the room with her screaming causing the lights and a mirror to shatter,  
"Just think it over." Reed said before leaving the room followed by his associate.

* * *

Lauren made her way out of the house, heading towards the car, she heard her mom's shout of her 11:30 curfew. Lauren rolled her eyes as she started the car,  
"Yo." The voice beside her startled her,  
"Andy!? What are you doing here?"  
"I snuck out." Andy said with a shrug. "I thought I'd go with you."  
"Didn't you tell Mom you were going to bed?"  
"Yeah, that's why they call it sneaking." Andy commented with a roll of his eyes. "Can we go?"  
"You can't!" Lauren argued. "What if she finds out?"  
"If I get caught, I'll tell her I was going down to Ian's. You won't get in trouble. When was the last time I got to go out on a weekend? It's like I'm a one-one of those baby cows they keep in the crates." Andy argued.  
"Veal?" Lauren offered. Andy nodded.  
"Yeah. I'm being raised like a veal."  
"You really want to go to a dance? After everything that's been going on at school?" Lauren couldn't help worrying about her little brother.  
"You mean my fan club? Yeah, whatever. I'm used to them." He tried to reassure her, Lauren groaned.  
"Buckle up." She stated as she started the car.

The school hall had been decorated for the dance, Andy looked all around while Lauren was searching for her boyfriend.  
"Oh, my God." Andy muttered as Lauren's boyfriend came over,  
"Lauren!" He called, grabbing the attention of both siblings.  
"Hi." Lauren muttered as she went over to her boyfriend, sharing a kiss.  
"Okay, that's enough. Leave room for Jesus." Andy commented as he pushed the pair apart.  
"Hey, dude. You, uh - Going to the dance."  
"Yeah, that's me. I'm a dance guy now." Andy commented, he sounded uncomfortable.  
"Okay. Well, have fun."  
"Yeah, you, too." Andy turned, wandering over to the bleachers, "don't get pregnant!" He yelled back as he saw Lauren and her boyfriend kissing again.

"Are you sure you can't stay out a little later?" Lauren's boyfriend asked her after a few minutes. Lauren shook her head,  
"You know my mom. It's not gonna happen."  
"Just ask." He pushed,  
"I have Andy with me. I can't stay out later." Lauren argued just in time for the gym to start shaking, it seemed to be creaking and bending.  
Within a few moments, the gym began to collapse, Lauren ran to find Andy, using her powers to block any falling rubble. Finding Andy, Lauren quickly pulled him from the building, dragging him to the car and racing towards their home.

* * *

By the time Taylor, John, Clarice, and Marcos returned to the HQ, they had anger rippling through them. It had taken them the best part of 14 hours to get home thanks to police following them. Eventually, they'd been able to shake them, but it had still taken much longer than anyone would've liked.

As they got inside, John took Marcos towards the medical room where he bandaged up his arm, Clarice was taken by Sage to be questioned about what had gone on, and Taylor began formulating a plan to get Lorna back. John glanced over to her, he could tell already that she wouldn't want to rest until her 'oldest sister' was safe.

Taylor didn't get much done in the way of planning as Imogen ran over to her,  
"Mommy!" Taylor scooped the girl into her arms, holding her close,  
"Where'd you go? You were gone _all_ day!" The girl said with exasperation,  
"Oh, well we had to go and rescue Auntie Clare from the police." Taylor said. She placed Imogen back on the ground after kissing her temple. The four-year-old ran off to join Rose before the pair headed to the bedroom that all four of the girls shared. Zingo trotted after the girls.

"Taylor!" Came a shout from John, the woman startled slightly at the sudden noise, turning away from the two girls and the dog to focus on John. John motioned her over, his eyes filled with worry as he, Clarice, and Marcos headed towards the tech room. Closing the notebook, Taylor followed her family.

"Yes, and as we have reported, breaking news on the mutant attack at Belleview High. We believe two young mutants to be responsible for the destruction. We've also heard that Federal authorities will be getting involved." The news rattled on about the attack as the group stopped inside the tech room.

Taylor's eyes went dark as she heard the report,  
"What was the school?" She asked, not even turning but her voice was dark, cold. The familiar and yet unfamiliar sound made John and Clarice tense. It was the same voice she had held when she began speaking to the pair after John and Gus had rescued her. It was a voice that only the couple were familiar with, even Gus hadn't really heard her voice this dark.  
"Belleview High." Finally, Taylor turned around with wide eyes, a blizzard of emotions running through her psychic link and her eyes.  
"No. No, it can't be. No!" The 27-year-old was filled with a frenzied mixture of worry and anger as she stared towards the screen and then back to her 'older siblings'.  
"That's my old school! Andy and Lauren should be attending now, that's where they would've gone!" John came over to her, placing one of his hands on either of her shoulders,  
"Just because it's their school doesn't mean it was them." Taylor shook her head, John's soft voice not calming her,  
"Don't give me that, John! You and I both know that they have a higher chance of being mutants because I was born one."

John wrapped his arms around his friend as her knees buckled at the thought of her biological younger siblings being in danger. She had fallen out with her parents yes, but never with Andy or Lauren, they were 3 and 5 when she had left, they wouldn't really remember her now.

Taylor's pale blue hair framed her face as her John looked into the eyes the color of blood.  
"Do we help them?" Marcos asked,  
"No." Taylor spoke in a shaky voice as she shook her head,  
"We help them if they contact us. I'm not making them live in fear if they don't have to." The other three all nodded, and they all left the room heading for their beds.

Taylor and John hung back slightly, staying in the tech room until they were the only two left. It was only in these moments that the pair would ask questions that they avoided when they had company.  
"You don't think… you don't think that your parents will do what they did to you to those kids do you?" John felt Taylor shrug as he pulled her into a hug,  
"I dunno, I mean, they abandoned me to those… animals. But that was 12 years ago. I was barely 15. Maybe they've changed slightly and will just kick 'em out." John released Taylor from his arms, he saw her force a smile onto her face,  
"Go to bed, Proudstar. I'm sure your wife's missin' ya." John smirked at Taylor's attempt of a joke.

John watched Taylor retreat to her room, but he couldn't help the feeling of sympathy in his gut that he knew Taylor hated; she was missing Gus, remembering the people she'd accidentally killed, reliving the betrayal of her parents. She needed someone and there was only one person she wanted at the minute; Gus Nobel.

The following afternoon, Marcos stood in the Vault, attempting to find a way to break Lorna out of prison. Clarice sauntered into the room and collapsed onto the couch with Zingo at her heels. The dog hadn't left her side since Clarice had returned. Zingo might've been everyone's dog, but she had a clear preference in Clarice.  
"So how've things been without me for the past two weeks?" She asked. Marcos knew that she was trying to occupy his mind with something other than the fact that Lorna was missing.  
"Well, your kids didn't want to leave John, too worried about losing you. Taylor had about 20 episodes a day – her controls slipping at the minute, even John's beginning to feel it, he's starting to weaken, their link's hurting him now more than ever." Clarice winced, deciding that she'd need to talk with John, making sure that he was ok. The woman sent a look to Marcos,  
"Well it is almost 12 years to the day since her parents shipped her to that place. She's reliving all of that, she's blaming herself for what happened at the Citadel, she's regretting everything she did. Plus, with her siblings thrown into the mix now, she's gonna be hurting more than you've ever seen her." Clarice pointed out. Marcos nodded briefly, a tight expression crossing his face – he'd completely forgotten about what time of year it was.

Marcos knew Clarice was right though, he and Lorna knew a lot less of what Taylor had been through compared to John and Clarice. Gus knew Taylor better than anyone, even John and Clarice, he knew the best wats to help her fight her episodes. Marcos and Lorna hadn't known the group until about three and a half years ago, they didn't know what Taylor was like when John and Gus first found her.

The conversation didn't get to grow much further as a mass of deep blues and greens ran into the room and threw herself over the couch, landing on the concrete floor with a thud before muttering something incoherent, Clarice chuckled at the girl she saw as her niece. The adults were always careful about what they said about Taylor's condition in the presence of children, it was at Taylor's request that they did this – they didn't want the kids scared about what Taylor had been through. They didn't want them scared of Taylor's powers.

"Aurora?" Marcos asked without looking over, causing the girl to peer over the couch to him showing as little of herself as possible, Marcos turned to face her with a raised eyebrow.  
"Yeah..." she drew out, looking directly at Marcos then to the doorway and then back at Marcos again,  
"What are you doing?" He asked, feeling like he should be slightly concerned,  
"Hidin'!" Aurora exclaimed causing Marcos to nod sarcastically and another chuckle to escape Clarice, she'd missed this.  
"Yeah, I can see that. I meant, why?" the four-year-old rolled her eyes in a way that Marcos knew would've made Lorna proud.  
"Cos Evie gotta come find us so we have to hide." The child exaggerated with a sigh, Marcos shook his head as his daughter slowly disappeared behind the couch, the two adults shared a look, both smiling at the girl.  
"Why did I even ask," Marcos muttered just as a bundle of neon named Imogen bounded into the room, took one look at Marcos and Clarice, rolled her eyes and left just as fast as she had entered.

The two adults chatted about hopefully harmless topics for a couple of minutes, avoiding the subjects of Taylor or Lorna due to Aurora hiding. They didn't get to talk for long before Clarice saw a girl with brown hair with subtle streaks of purple come to the doorway. Clarice smiled at the sight of her eldest daughter stood in the doorway; the girl folded her arms over her chest covering the dinosaur tee she was wearing and look Marcos and Clarice up and down before entering the room.

It was like Evie knew that her friend would be in there just because Aurora's dad and auntie. Evie's electric, jade green eyes scanned the area before she held her left hand out and flicked her wrist, using her air manipulation powers to lift the couch like it was a sheet of paper, Clarice moved from the couch to stand beside Marcos, Zingo remaining at her heels, Aurora clung on as long as she could but Evie began shaking it making her friend fall,  
"Got you!" Evie yelled triumphantly as Aroura stood and dusted off her jeans with a pout, her eyes darting from her friend to the couch hovering above her head to her father.  
"Yeah but you cheated! Tell her daddy!" Marcos shook his head with a fond smile,  
"She used what she could." Evie giggled at her uncle and ran over to hug her mom while Aurora stuck her tongue out at her dad before the two took hands and ran off, a faint green glow following them. The two adults just laughed at the pair when Marcos' phone rang.

Clarice sat fussing Zingo as Marcos left the room to answer the phone.  
"Hello," Marcos said calmly, leaning against the doorframe, watching the four kids play nearby.  
"Is this Marcos Diaz?" The voice on the end of the line asked,  
"Uh-huh. Who's this? How'd you get this number?" Marcos asked,  
"My name is Reed Strucker" Marcos looked over to where Taylor was stood with her back to him, watching the children while chatting with Clarice. His blood ran cold as he spoke to the man who'd caused his baby sister so much suffering in her life.  
"My family needs help getting across the border. You and the people you work with, you do that right?" Strucker asked, Marcos didn't take his eyes from Taylor but answered the man,  
"Maybe." Marcos stated, giving nothing away, he really didn't want to be the one to break it to Taylor that her birth family had called asking for help. He knew that he and Taylor were still a confusing relationship; they were siblings in every sense, including the way they fought.  
"Did you hear about the mutant incident? At the high school? Those were my children." Marcos took his eyes from Taylor; he closed his eyes for a moment. Taylor's words running through his mind – don't help them unless they ask. They were asking him.  
"I'm sorry I can't-" before Marcos could finish, Strucker interrupted him,  
"I was a prosecutor for the city. I was responsible for building a case against you and your associates for the districts attorney's office." Marcos rolled his eyes; this man really wasn't giving him a reason to help him out.  
"And you're calling me for help? Why should I lift a finger for you?" Marcos hissed,  
"Because I can help you. Your, uh, your associate, Lorna Dane, goes by Polaris?" Marcos stopped walking suddenly,  
"What do you know about Lorna?" He asked with urgency,  
"You want to help her, you can talk to me. You know about her medical condition?" The man said calmly,  
"What are you talking about? What medical condition?" Marcos asked, panic evident in his voice,  
"You gonna help my family?" The man asked, son of a bitch Marcos thought,  
"What are you talking about?" He hissed again,  
"I want a meeting!" The man on the other side snapped,  
"Yes. Fine. I'll meet you, just tell me!" Marcos' voice was low but was venomous,  
"She's pregnant." The man stated simply. Marcos gave him the location of Fade's bar knowing that it would be the best place to meet if the man were to bring cops.

Clarice found John sat in the tech room, a smile fell onto her lips as she noticed him still half asleep; he was doing far too much, not to mention that he was woken up every time Taylor had a nightmare, it was affecting him. Her hands fell to his shoulders as she approached, startling him at the contact. Worry fluttered through Clarice at the fact that John hadn't noticed her. He was always focused on his surroundings, it was what left him drained at the end of a day, his senses were left exhausted and he was left with a headache and exhaustion.  
"Hey." She whispered as she rubbed his shoulders for a moment, feeling some of his tension disappear as she did so.  
"Hey." He muttered back, his hand settling on top of one of hers.  
"So, Marcos was telling me all about how you're feeling the effects of Taylor's powers. That's never happened before, what's going on?" John stood up, taking Clarice's hands in an attempt to reassure her,  
" It's nothing too bad, I can handle it." Clarice raised an eyebrow at him. Her doubt was obvious.  
"Yeah, and the psychic link hurting you? John it's never done that before." John pulled Clarice closer, hoping to comfort her,  
"We'll figure it out. All of us. I reckon it's got something to do with the anniversary." He said softly.  
"Which one?" Clarice asked grimly.  
"Her being sent to the Citadel. Her losing control. Me and Gus finding her. Gus' death. Losing her baby. All of them happened around this time of year, and she's blaming herself for everything that went wrong. That much, it gets to me." Clarice kissed him gently, she knew how much her best friend blamed herself for what had happened in the past, but that didn't make anything any easier. Clarice promised to try and talk to Taylor before letting John get back to what he'd been doing. It was a Saturday, so he was usually doing supply count and supply route planning because it was one of those jobs that the others hated to do.

About an hour passed before Clarice began looking for Marcos, she caught John's eyes as she did so, confusion settling onto his expression. She made her way over to her husband, but her eyes were still searching for Marcos.  
"Marcos got a call about an hour ago and now I can't find him. Dunno who called or where he went. John I'm worried. Marcos is reckless when Lorna's in trouble." Taylor had joined the pair by the time that Clarice finished talking. John stood up, taking Clarice's hand.

Taylor hung back slightly, messing with the cuff of her hoodie as she looked towards John and Clarice.  
"I'm gonna stay and keep an eye on the girls." Taylor stated as John and Clarice moved to the door, they froze, turning to look at the woman. Taylor glanced to the floor as Clarice took her friend's hand.  
"You're needing people in full control of the powers for this. That's… that's not me. I'm just gonna be a liability out there. I could injure you guys, accidentally kill Marcos, slaughter an entire building. I can't go with you... Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on the girls." The others nodded sadly and made their way out of the building to find Marcos. They knew she was right about what she'd said but it still hurt that they couldn't protect her, she was family to them, and they couldn't save her.

Taylor reached the door to the girls' room, she burst it open, her face scrunching in confusion at the sight of four beds floating and the bean bags lifted into the air, it took her a few moments to realize that the floor was hot as well.  
"The floor is lava, Mommy" Imogen yelled to her mother,  
"Well I'm dead then." She said before smirking and hopping onto one of the beanbags, Taylor quickly made sure Rose was facing her before she spoke and signed,  
"C'mon bedtime. Evie, drop the beds. Rose, cool the floors." The four girls groaned in chorus which made Taylor chuckle, she could feel the heat in the room lessen as Rose stopped using her powers of heat manipulation on the floor.  
"Pajamas at least," The girls all looked at Taylor with suspicion,  
"Where's Momma and Daddy?" Evie asked as she dropped the beds and beanbags to the floor, causing the five of them to fall with them. The girls all flopped down onto the beds while Taylor leaned against one of the walls.  
"They've just had to go out to get Rory's dad out of trouble," this caused all the girls to laugh,  
"Right! Pajamas and then you can play for 5 more minutes. No more!" All the girls cheered and raced to get their pajamas on so they could keep playing.

The girls all grabbed their pajamas as quick as they could, Evie changed into her dinosaur ones which said 'Don't wake sleepy Dino', Rose's were Beauty and the Beast ones, Aurora's were Harry Potter ones that said 'Don't let the Muggles get you down', and lastly Imogen pulled on her ones which were covered in ice creams with faces. All the girls grabbed their stuffed toys, Imogen's was a rhino, Rose's was a penguin, Aurora's was a frog and Evie's was shockingly a dinosaur. No one really understood where Evie's obsession with dinosaurs came from, but it always made people smile.

The girls were quick back to playing but didn't get long because true to her word, Taylor came back in five minutes later and helped get the girls into bed. She began telling them a story when the sound of yelling and screaming filled the room.

Taylor looked at the girl's scared faces, her eyes meeting Evie's as her hands clasped her ears as the noise became too much for the girl who'd inherited enhanced hearing from her dad, Rose had her own hands clamped over her sister's ears; she knew how much sounds could affect Evie. Taylor ran her fingers through Evie's hair, trying to settle the girl and alleviate some of her fear.  
"Stay here. I'll be back. If I'm not, come and find me." The girls nodded but huddled closer together. They each clutched a soft toy while they sat in pure silence.

After almost five minutes, the girls all decided that they wanted to see what was going on, they headed out of the door and saw Clarice lying unconscious on the bench and Taylor was yelling at a woman and two teenagers.


	2. Can't Imagine A World With You Gone

**WARNING: Depictions of non-consensual drug use, torture, and miscarriage are in this chapter.**

Taylor left the door slightly ajar before walking to the railing from there she looked down and saw the impossible; Clarice was lying in Marcos' arms while two teens and a woman were yelling at John, she instantly recognized them. Pain filled her stomach as she looked at the people she had hoped she'd never see again. Taylor glanced at the two teenagers, trying to ignore their yelling as she took in their appearances, they seemed so similar to the children she'd left behind.

Heading down the stairs, Taylor held up her right hand and clenched a loose fist, the yelling turned to screams as pain filled every cell in their bodies. John turned and saw his surrogate sister walking towards them, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he looked at her, she dropped her fist and the three looked at her. Taylor's powers flooded her, the ability to induce pain became intoxicating to her as she let her eyes narrow on the people in front of her.  
"Hi Mom!" She exclaimed icily, her eyes dead and no expression on her pale face. It seemed so weird to John to hear Taylor use that word for her mother, she only ever used the woman's name.  
"I see that it's only me you abandon." It was clear that Taylor's words hit Caitlin Strucker like a bullet. She looked at Taylor with wide eyes while gasping for air,  
"We thought you were dead." Taylor glared at the woman a sneer on her lips,  
"That's what you chose to tell your children? You were the reason I longed for death. You are the reason I experienced Hell." She snapped before heading over to Clarice.

Taylor did her best to fight off the feeling of hurt as she turned away from her younger siblings, they hadn't done anything wrong. Her anger belonged with her parents, not her innocent siblings who'd only been kids when she'd been shipped to Hell. Her anger only grew when she realised that her parents had run away with their younger children while they'd left Taylor to suffer for being different.  
"Clare, c'mon, open your eyes!" Taylor's voice was soft but urgent. Clarice had been the one who'd spent countless days sat beside Taylor when they'd first rescued her, building an immunity to the pain she projected so that she could comfort the woman without frightening her. Now, it was Taylor's turn to help Clarice.

John turned his eyes from his 'sister' and wife in order to answer the Strucker family's questions. As the questions continued to fly at John, he felt them pounding in his mind, this was the last thing he wanted to be doing and the noise from rescuing the Strucker's had set in a headache that left him longing for quiet.  
"You have to explain this. What just happened? Where are we?!" Caitlin snapped; John really didn't want to speak to the woman who'd hurt his baby sister. Taylor glanced over, having sensed John's hesitation.  
"This is our headquarters." Taylor said, moving back over to stand beside John while Marcos kept Clarice tight against his chest, trying to calm her.  
"We have to go back, please!" Strucker snapped again, her anger only causing Taylor's to increase. John and Marcos shared a look, both could feel the dull pain that told them that an episode was coming on.  
"Just hang on." John responded, he needed to calm Taylor before another serious issue arose. They really didn't want to have Taylor breaking now when there were strangers this close to her, the Strucker's would be at more risk than most if Taylor was to break.

Caitlin didn't notice Taylor's behaviour changing, all she cared about was getting her husband back.  
"Hang on! Hang on? My husband is in that building. We can't just leave him," Her voice was angry, but Andy spoke,  
"W-we have to go back for him. He was shot, we have to go back now!" John looked directly at him,  
"Even if we could go back it is a very bad idea. I know you wanna help you dad but it's suicide. It won't help him if we all die! Right now, we gotta take care of Clarice. We gotta calm down Taylor."

The blue-haired woman wasn't listening as John grabbed her hand, he drew in her attention as the yelling stopped for a merciful moment. Forcing her mind to link to his, hearing nothing but his voice, Taylor shook as John pulled her closer to him, making sure that she was only focused on him.  
"I don't want this." Came Taylor's broken whisper, quiet enough that only John could hear it. Her eyes were distant and clouded, John knew he still had a chance to draw Taylor back before she completely broke down.  
"I know, but I've got you, you're safe." His words of reassurance were able to pull her back to reality quickly, allowing them to begin worrying about Clarice.

Marcos lifted Clarice, moving her towards the medical area, the Strucker's returned to yelling questions all the while, no one was really paying any attention to them anymore.  
"It hurts," Clarice mumbled, the weakness in her voice grabbing John's attention. Clarice stumbled from where Marcos was holding her up, falling sideways causing panic to flare between the trio helping her.

John caught Clarice before she could hit the floor, pulling her firmly into his arms, holding her gently but securely.  
"Hey, love, c'mon, keep your eyes open, for me." John spoke barely loud enough for anyone to hear.  
"You've got to wake her up. Hey! - Can you wake her up, please?" Andy asked leaning over Marcos' shoulder. Taylor waved her hand causing pain to once again fill Andy, Caitlin and Lauren both moved to try and protect Andy from Taylor's wrath.

Andy cried out in pain just as Marcos let out a frustrated yell,  
"Kid!" Silence reigned over the room. The silence made Taylor release her grip, letting the pain dissipate from Andy.  
"Look, your dad was gonna help me get my girlfriend out of jail. I want him here just as much as you do, but we cannot do this right now. All right?" Andy finally nodded.  
"He was what?" Taylor's weak voice caught everyone's attention; her anger had turned to hurt as she'd heard Marcos' words.

Taylor stepped back; her breath caught in her throat. Marcos turned to his little sister; the betrayal was clear in her eyes. He knew what Taylor had been through, but he was desperate to save Lorna. Taylor's eyes filled with angry tears at Marcos' revelation. He'd gone behind her back, spoken to her father, after everything Taylor had told him…  
"He has connections who could've helped get Lorna free." He tried to explain, moving to hold Taylor's arm. The young woman moved further away from him but didn't say anything. Subconsciously, Taylor moved to stand ever so slightly behind John, wanting nothing more than to be protected by her older brother. John glanced between the pair, deciding to stay out of this for now and focus on Clarice.

The yelling had caused the four girls to leave their room and they walked cautiously towards the adults, each heading to their own parent. Taylor lifted Imogen into her arms, the chaos manipulator curled into her mother's hold while her eyes didn't leave Clarice, the woman had been an aunt to the girl since she was born, Taylor rubbed her hand up and down her daughter's back, knowing the girl's fears could grow like her own – they're not there one moment and strong the next.

Marcos put a hand on his daughter's head. The little girl hated the fact that in situations like this, control of nature wasn't useful. Aurora glanced to her best friend, they'd been inseparable for two years, they knew each other entirely. Though now, they were lost, they couldn't help.

The twins stood on either side of John just looking at their mother in fear. Evie's hands left her ears now that the shouting had died down slightly, she had inherited enhanced senses from her father, they weren't as extreme as John's but her hearing was a hell of a lot stronger than any human, all the shouting had gotten to her leading her into a panic as the noises grew and grew in her ears.

Rose was filled with fear at the sight of her mother lying unconscious. None of them could deny the fact that they saw Rose as the more vulnerable of the twins; Evie could hear all the conversations that she wasn't meant to. Rose was the opposite, her senses were negatively affected; she saw in monochromatic vision, her hearing was dulled in comparison to her sister.

Taylor, Marcos, and John headed upstairs to where Sonia was waiting for them. They left the four kids down where they could see them but where they wouldn't overhear what their parents were talking about. Even Evie knew how to avoid listening to their conversation.  
"I know, Sonia. Clarice is in bad shape, we've gotta do something." John muttered,  
"I've been trying to reach a doctor in Gainesville. I can't get anybody at this hour." Sonia told him,  
"Just keep trying." Taylor ordered, more sharply than she'd intended. She didn't pay attention to Sonia's flinch, Sonia knew that the other woman's anger was misplaced, but it was still something that was uncomfortable to be receiving.  
"And we need to try to find a place for the family." John added, trying to stop both women from attacking each other, worried more for the damage Taylor could inflict.  
"This family?" Sonia began with a cold chuckle, "who are these people? You almost got killed, Johnny. We didn't discuss this." Taylor flexed her fingers at Sonia's words.  
"No, we didn't." John began before turning to Marcos,  
"It's about time we talked about this freelance job of yours. You just run off and pull this without telling anyone?" John exclaimed.  
"You went behind my back. You helped them?!" Taylor almost shouted, not out of anger but more out of hurt. She'd always expected Marcos to be on her side.  
"Taylor, you said that we help them if they asked. They asked. And we help mutants in danger, John. Those kids are mutants, and you sure as hell saw the danger." The pair rolled their eyes at Marcos. Taylor fixed a glare on the man, steeling at his use of her words.  
"Come on, don't give me that. This was about Lorna." John tried to calm the pair on either side of him, both of them getting more and more angry with every passing moment.  
"So what if it was? We can't just leave her out there." Marcos snapped.  
"You don't think I want her back, too? We're not gonna help her by destroying the whole organization."  
"And don't you dare use my words. I said that we were to help those kids. Not those who would willingly lock up a mutant." Taylor growled. Her eyes darkening as she spoke. Taylor calmed slightly when her eyes focused on Lauren running towards them.  
"Guys. You got to come. Something's wrong." The trio ran down the stairs towards Clarice.

Taylor let her eyes take in her little sister while Caitlin spoke,  
"She's going into respiratory distress and her temperature's spiking… I'm a nurse." She stated. Taylor rolled her eyes, her anger still not diffused from both the confrontation with her biological family and then with Marcos.  
"She did one jump over miles of terrain. Damn right she'll be drained of energy!" Taylor snapped.  
"Taylor!" John yelled, Taylor ignored him for a moment,  
"Do you expect that we haven't considered that? She's our friend, we know the limitations of her powers. If your family had managed to speed up, then she would be awake, I heard her shout that she couldn't hold the portal, and yet you lot still took your time. You could cost Clarice her life."  
"Taylor! Enough!" John's yell was loud, too loud. He hadn't meant to scare Taylor, or the girls, but now was not the time for arguing.  
"Argue later. Right now, a nurse is what we need to help Clarice." John explained in a soft voice. He never yelled at Taylor. Ever. He instantly regretted doing so, but he'd needed to stop her before she'd attacked. Taylor's eyes were wide with fear,  
"You're the one person who'd never raised their voice near me, John." Taylor whispered. She knew that her rant to Caitlin was her emotions getting out of control, but now, they were spiraling the other way.

Marcos continued arguing with Caitlin as she continued to tell them that Clarice needed a hospital,  
"Her heartrate's elevated massively, she may be in shock, every system's crashing." Her powers began to flare,  
"What does she need?" John asked desperately,  
"Hypercortisone-D to stabilize her powers. Sodium polystyrene sulfonate for potassium. Something to restore her blood calcium. She needs a hospital." John, Taylor, and Marcos shared a look, the girls watched on, even they knew that none of them could go to a hospital.  
"A hospital? She's wanted. She'll go right back to jail!" Marcos fired back. John and Taylor returned their attention to Caitlin, their own conversation being filed away for later.  
"I don't think you understand me. She could die here." Caitlin tried to argue,  
"No, I don't think you understand us. Any of us so much as look at a hospital and we'll be inside a cell in seconds. Except for me. They'll stick me back in a cage." Taylor growled. John gripped Taylor's arm comfortingly, the woman settled quickly. Taylor glanced over to the four girls who were just stood watching anxiously as the adults argued, she'd noticed with a smile that Evie was signing everything that was being said, letting her sister remain clear on what was going on.

All too quickly a portal appeared with a truck driving straight towards it, the four girls ran towards the stairs just as the rear of the pickup was cut from the front and sent through the portal, it hit into the four girls followed by Caitlin, Marcos and Taylor, and lastly John who had pushed the teens out the way. The trailer came to a halt, but everyone waited a few seconds before moving.  
"Is anyone hurt?!" John yelled as he stood and then helped the teens up and around the trailer. Marcos ran over to the girls, none of them were hurt, just badly shaken up.

John lifted Clarice up from the bench.  
"We gotta move her!" John yelled, Marcos ran over to a table calling to Shatter,  
"Clear the table. Now!" Everyone was fond of Clarice, she gave everyone a chance, but she looked out for the people she trusted, suddenly the tables had flipped and the people she trusted were having to look after her. Taylor grabbed the girls out of the way as John passed through, laying Clarice gently onto the metal table.

"Look!" Andy said, pointing into a hallway, "it's happening again,"  
"That's the same road…" Lauren muttered after seeing the broken truck,  
"This ain't good." Taylor stated as she let go of the girls, moving them behind her in order to protect them better.  
"They can see us," she added as Marcos, John and herself approached the portal. Marcos made his palms glow and began raising one before it was caught by John,  
"We are not getting into a pitched battle with innocent bystanders," John hissed at Marcos,  
"Yeah? What about him?" Marcos questioned, nodding his head towards a man cocking a shotgun.

At that moment, Lauren jogged around the three and began using her powers to force the portal closed. Andy looked at his sister shocked while Taylor couldn't help but smirk, her friends knew that she didn't hate her siblings, it was her parents that had given her up. Her siblings had just been kids when she was taken. Taylor had always told them about Lauren, her little sister who she loved. She'd always told them how Imogen reminded her of her sister.

Silence reigned over the HQ as Lauren stepped back. Taylor tried to keep her expression blank as she watched her sister, but she couldn't hide her pride entirely.  
"Dude! What'd you just do!?" Andy called, Lauren shook her head,  
"I dunno, I used shields to close it, I didn't think it'd work…" Her voice was quiet and faded off slightly as she looked towards where John, Taylor, and Marcos were all stood. Lauren felt herself smile at the proud expression Taylor wore, she couldn't help but feel that it was an achievement.  
"Yeah, it worked. For now. Clarice is in bad shape that could happen again." John said with a nod,  
"Again? Look if humans come through Clare's portals, they'll either get cut in half or we all get butchered." Taylor commented, the other two nodded in agreement, the risks were growing with every portal that opened.  
"Personally, I prefer the former." She added as she lifted Imogen into her arms, almost as if she was saying the words to the little girl who just giggled. Marcos and John just rolled their eyes at Taylor's last comment. Caitlin, Andy, and Lauren looked horrified, the kids' expressions changed quickly when they realized she wasn't being too serious, but Caitlin's steeled.  
"You think this is a joke?" Caitlin demanded. John and Marcos shared a look, knowing what Taylor's comment would be,  
"No more than you shipping your daughter off to a facility that tortures mutants. Don't try to act all high and mighty, it doesn't suit you." Taylor commented nonchalantly.

"Hey." Marcos called, grabbing Caitlin's attention before she could respond,  
"If we get you that medicine can you help her from here?" Caitlin laughed slightly causing Taylor to flex her free hand, by this point it was a reflex, keeping her daughter on her hip using her other hand to support the girl. Taylor was ready to step in to protect her chosen family if they needed it. Placing Imogen back on her feet, Taylor moved into the defensive beside Marcos. Both of them seemed to have stepped in front of John and Clarice, as if protecting them from having to get involved.  
"You can't just buy hypercortisone-D at Walgreens. You have to get to the hospital, get in the Pyxis machine." John ran a hand over his face before glancing at the twins who were stood with their friends all looking at Clarice, pale with worry.  
"Then we'll take you." Marcos said looking at Caitlin before turning to Lauren,  
"Now if that happens again, can you do… whatever it is you just did?" Lauren nodded at him,  
"Yeah, I think so," Taylor looked to her younger sister as Marcos nodded,  
"Good." He turned back to Caitlin who had an exasperated look on her face,  
"No! No, I'm not leaving my daughter here to close space holes!" Taylor couldn't help rolling her eyes, John and Marcos both glanced over to their friend. Only they would've been able to notice the briefest glimpse of hurt that passed through those daunting, red eyes, before they returned to their usual steely cold that only went away when she was with just her new family.  
"Mom. It's ok. I can do this." With that, Marcos and Caitlin left.

Aurora seemed to want to go after her dad but was lifted into Taylor's arms before she could follow. A frown folded across Aurora's lips as she looked at her aunt  
"It's alright Sweetie, he'll be back soon, yeah? He just needs to go and get some stuff for Clare." The little girl nodded at her aunt before she was placed back on the ground. Lauren and Andy watched the interaction with distant eyes, Taylor had been like that with them before she left.

Andy didn't really remember his older sister, but he did remember her smile and the way that she could always make him laugh.

Lauren on the other hand, remembered her vividly, the way she would always tell her weird stories and was always smiling. Lauren also remembered the day that those men had showed up at the house wearing suits and the way Taylor screamed for their parents who stood and did nothing as the eldest Strucker child was dragged kicking and screaming into the back of a black van.

———————

Marcos and Caitlin headed out in one of the cars, heading to the nearest Mutant hospital. Caitlin was restless in her seat as they drove away from the HQ, repeatedly glancing at her watch as they continued further and further away from her children.  
"How long is this drive gonna take? My children are back there alone." Caitlin muttered, Marcos glanced over to her,  
"They're not alone. John's a tracker, but he's also damn-near bulletproof. Strong as a… I don't know… he's very strong. And Taylor… she's very protective of any mutant at HQ. She's a fighter and is almost as strong as John, they're safe with her." Caitlin raised an eyebrow at Marcos,  
"You and my husband had a deal to help my family," Caitlin began, "I expect you to honor that deal, we need to get Reed back, and we need to get out of the country." She stated,  
"You do know your husband was trying to send my girlfriend to jail?" Marcos commented back. He didn't trust the woman next to him,  
"He was following the law!" Caitlin exclaimed, "has he prosecuted mutants? Yes. But…" Marcos rolled his eyes,  
"But some of his best friends are mutants?" He asked, almost condescendingly,  
"Try his children." Caitlin sneered. Marcos just nodded back; Caitlin wasn't understanding him.  
"Exactly my point." He said, "tell me, if it wasn't your kids in that gym, would you be defending them? Would your husband?" Caitlin turned back to the road.

Focusing on the road ahead, Marcos tried to work out how to word the question he was desperate to ask,  
"Why'd you give up Taylor?" He asked after a few moments. Glancing over to Caitlin, Marcos noticed that she stared down into her lap, not too sure where to begin.  
"When she was born, I was barely 18. She was born with bright red eyes and faint red hair…" A smile brushed Caitlin's lips, fading after a moment. Marcos realized in that moment that he was 14 years younger than Caitlin, he couldn't help but tense at the thought, he didn't quite know why the idea baffled him so much.  
"She was a great kid when we lived in New York, she had friends, did well at school, was focused and caring. Things changed when she reached ten, she was out every Saturday, she stopped talking to me and Reed…" Marcos smirked, trying to imagine Taylor as a confident kid, he had to stifle a laugh when he imagined Taylor living in the bustling city of New York.  
"When Lauren was born looking… normal…" Caitlin hesitated to use the word, "Taylor became withdrawn from us, but she was overprotective of her sister. She began getting more and more withdrawn until I eventually took her to get help, she was diagnosed as clinically depressed." Marcos glanced over to Caitlin,  
"She had depression as a teenager?" Caitlin just nodded,  
"It wasn't serious, the shrink thought it was because of the move. When Lauren started school, Taylor saw her getting bullied, she attacked the kid's older brother, he was taken to the hospital." He couldn't help it, Marcos smiled at that picture of Taylor, he was able to imagine her easily.  
"Reed and I didn't know what to do, we hadn't long moved to Atlanta, we'd only been here 3 years. We were contacted by Sentinel Services, they said they wanted to help Taylor, they wanted to let her gain control of her powers."

Marcos shuddered, he knew what happened next, though he only knew it very vaguely, Taylor didn't really like talking about it. She hated those memories,  
"That Saturday, Taylor had been out all day, she came home so excited about something… I never found out what she wanted to tell us." Caitlin messed with her hands, not too sure what to say next,  
"The doctors and agents took her, Lauren had seen. I just remember feeling numb for months. I don't think I ever really forgave myself for it. I know Reed didn't forgive himself." Marcos scoffed at those final comments,  
"Just know, I doubt Taylor will forgive you, I doubt John will ever trust you, and I doubt Lorna or Clarice will trust you either."  
"Why do you?" Caitlin asked, looking over to Marcos, but she wasn't shocked when she didn't get an answer.

——————————

Lauren watched John and Gus silently talk to each other, both stood at Clarice's sides as Taylor took John's hand, reassuring him silently.  
"So who is she?" Andy asked not so delicately, John and Taylor both snapped their attention to the two teenagers.  
"John's wife," Taylor said before John could speak, John shot a quick playful glare over to Taylor.  
"She's a leader here, mother of the twins, and yes she's my wife," John said, Rose came over to John, pulling at his hand to grab his attention,  
"Daddy, what wrong wi' Momma?" John knelt down to Rose, brushing a strand of pink-y purple hair from her face only to have a streak of green fall in its place. Rose's eyes focused on John's hands as he signed back to her,  
"She's not well," he turned to look at the rest of the girls, "why don't you guys go upstairs." He pulled Rose close for a moment, reassuring her silently, she and Imogen quickly ran off upstairs. Aurora and Evie hung back for a moment, John placed his hand on Evie's head, a move he regularly did to comfort his older daughter.  
"She'll be alright, Trouble." It was that comment that caused the eldest two of the four girls to run off upstairs in pursuit of their friends.

Just as the girls disappeared, another portal opened,  
"Hey! It's happening!" Taylor yelled to Sonia, "get everyone out of here!" Sonia began yelling for everyone to clear the area as the sound of police sirens flooded the HQ.  
"Lauren? You got this?" John asked Lauren at the same time. Lauren walked to the portal and began closing it while John focused his hearing onto what the police were saying. Taylor watched her older brother closely while she flexed her hand ready to take over if Lauren couldn't close the portal.

Eventually, the portal snapped shut causing Lauren to stumble back slightly,  
"That was way too close." Andy muttered to which Lauren nodded,  
"I'll be back in a minute, if that happens again you yell." John said before grabbing Taylor's hand before jogging off up the stairs to where Sonia was stood.

—————————

Marcos and Caitlin pulled up in the parking lot of the hospital, Marcos noticed Caitlin's shock when she saw the overcrowded hospital waiting room.  
"It's not much like the hospitals you're used to, is it." Marcos observed, glancing through the window to the patients being treated for minor injuries in the waiting room,  
"They're talking about closing this place down. Turns out our best superpower is bankrupting hospitals. We're born with the ultimate pre-existing condition." Marcos commented,  
"I guess so," Caitlin muttered, "this is gonna be tough. The E.R.'s secured, and the drugs are inside. We're not getting into the treatment area without an emergency, not for hours." Caitlin turned to Marcos,  
"You said a cop shot you. Where?" Marcos shot to look at Caitlin,  
"Wait, what?"  
"Look, Clarice is dying." Caitlin told him urgently, "show me your wound."  
"All right. Just watch out for the blood." Marcos warned her,  
"I've seen blood." Caitlin shot back. Marcos chuckled humorlessly  
"Not mine." Caitlin raised an eyebrow before peeling back the bandage, her eyes widening at the sight of the glowing blood,  
"Yeah. That's cool, right?"

Caitlin led Marcos into the hospital,  
"My boyfriend's hurt!" She yelled, leading Marcos to the sign in desk,  
"You need to sign these." The nurse told them without looking up. Marcos glanced over to Caitlin for a moment before taking his hand away from the bullet wound. The light and heat from the blood began melting the plastic screen separating the nurses from the patients. The nurse's eyes widened at the sight as Marcos covered his wound again.  
"He needs a doctor now!" Caitlin yelled. The nurse leapt into action to call for a doctor.

A doctor led Marcos and Caitlin into a triage, telling Marcos to sit on one of the beds before he began stapling the wound closed.  
"All right, one more, we're all done. Okay." The doctor placed the stapler back down on the tray, before turning back to the pair,  
"So, uh, how exactly did this happen?"  
"Uh, it was an accident." Caitlin stepped in quickly, not giving the doctor any time to consider what could have caused the injury.  
"I was, uh, fixing stuff on the roof, and you know the little sticker on the ladder that says, "Don't step above this step"? I stepped above the step." Marcos explained, the lie flowing easily off his tongue.  
"Well, I guess we learned a lesson today." The doctor began, smiling condescendingly at Marcos.  
"The nurse will give you some instructions on wound care."  
"Thanks, Doc."  
"Ma'am, can I talk to you a moment?" The doctor asked Caitlin, leaving Marcos with the nurse.  
"Of course." Caitlin headed out of the room with the doctor.

——————————

Reaching Sonia at the top of the stairs, Taylor and John came to a stop at either side of her, leaning over the railings so that they could still see Clarice.  
"What's happening, Johnny?" Sonia asked, her eyes flicking between the pair in front of her.  
"I don't know, they just keep opening, I mean Lauren's able to close 'em for now but…" His voice faded as he looked between Sonia and Taylor,  
"Look the cops are gearing up, I heard 'em calling in the SWAT team," Taylor shot her head to look at John,  
"So next time the portal open's, we're gonna have some serious problems." Taylor chided. Taylor's eyes locked with John's as the pair began to formulate a plan silently.

Sonia looked back and forth between John and Taylor as they fell silent, their expressions changing every few seconds, Sonia silently groaned when she realized they were using their mental link.  
"Mind filling me in?" Sonia quipped causing the pair to jerk up in surprise. Sonia rolled her eyes as they were brought back to the fact that they weren't alone and not everyone shared a psychic link with them.  
"We need to ready to evacuate if necessary." John explained, Sonia shook her head,  
"No! We need to get her away from here!" Sonia had never really liked Clarice, less so when she found out that she was married to John, the man who she had been trying to get with since she arrived.  
"Moving her is too dangerous, things got worse when we tried that idea out." Taylor pointed out.  
"So, what are we gonna do?" Sonia asked looking to John for an answer, blanking Taylor entirely.  
"We are gonna hope that Marcos gets back here with the medicine in time." He said before heading back downstairs with Taylor.

——————————

Caitlin managed to make her way to the medicine storage, thankfully, she was able to get the nurse in the room to leave. Catching the cupboard before it could fully close, Caitlin began grabbing the medicine they would need, grabbing a couple of extras in case of any side effects. It only took her a few moments to gather the medication into one of the sealable bags.

Heading back towards triage, Caitlin's eyes landed on the doctor who'd treated Marcos talking to the police. Caitlin didn't stay to hear if they were talking about her and Marcos, deciding to find Marcos so that they could get out as soon as possible. Arriving back in triage, Caitlin stuffed the medicine into the bag they'd brought with them,  
"You get everything you need?" Marcos asked her,  
"I think so."  
"You think? We cannot do this twice." He exclaimed,  
"Listen to me, the doctor's talking to the police right now." Caitlin snapped, pushing the bag into Marcos' arms,  
"Come on." Marcos began leading Caitlin down the back corridors, "you sure he was talking to the cops about us?"  
"I don't know. I didn't think we should take any chances." Caitlin defended as they rounded a corner,  
"Stop! Police!" Came a shout in front of them,  
"Run!" Marcos ordered, pushing Caitlin towards one of the corridors. The pair ran towards the exit, Marcos toppled a container of washing and water before running after Caitlin towards the door. The pair made it outside, turning around, Marcos directed his powers to the door, melting it locked.

——————————

Taylor and John approached where Clarice was lying, John gently pressed his hand against her arm,  
"She's burning up," his voice was quiet and Taylor could see the fear hidden in his eyes, something that she'd only seen a handful of time before.  
"This is getting worse," His voice was slightly louder now, he stopped when he heard Clarice muttering,  
"Hurts… it hurts…" John gripped her hand in his as Sonia approached, John gently brushed some hair from Clarice's face, refusing to let go of her hand unless absolutely necessary. Clarice gasped again,  
"Have to get away…" Her voice was almost fragile,  
"We need to start getting everybody out," John looked at Sonia as he spoke,  
"We are not gonna abandon this place!" Sonia yelled in a whisper,  
"I don't see what choices we have. Clarice is opening portals every few minutes now and Lauren can't keep this up." Taylor shot back,  
"I can keep trying." Lauren said through her exhaustion.  
"Mom has to be back soon, right?" Andy asked trying not to sound as scared as he was,  
"Maybe. We need to consider the possibility –" Taylor never got to finish as another portal ripped open,  
"This might be it! We might have to evacuate! Clarice!" John yelled as Lauren tried to close the portal,  
"I can't hold it!" She yelled, falling backwards.

John moved into a defensive position as he saw an armed officer come through. Taylor was closer to the unfortunate officer than John was; her hands wrapped around the man's neck causing the unlucky man to collapse in pain before he had a chance to shoot. John ran over, grabbing the man, Taylor let the man fall from her hold but didn't stop causing pain until John had thrown him against the ceiling and back out of the portal. Still, the portal didn't close. Andy ran over, using his power to force the men away but also causing the table holding Clarice to flip over.

The portal snapped shut but Clarice was creating more and more now.  
"What do we do?" Lauren said, terror in her voice, she was looking directly at Taylor, wanting her older sister to protect her.  
"Get out. Get everyone out!" John yelled to the small group.

Sonia set to work on getting most people out while Taylor took Lauren's hand,  
"I need you to help me." Lauren nodded, following her sister upstairs. They headed straight to the girl's room where they were cuddled up against the far wall, still in their pajamas clutching their stuffed animals, Imogen held her arms out to her mother as the two ran in,  
"Grab the twins!" Taylor called to her sister while she grabbed Imogen and Aurora into her arms.

——————————

Since the incident at the hospital, Caitlin had been silent for most of the drive back to the HQ, but eventually, she couldn't take it anymore.  
"What happened at the hospital Is it always that bad for mutants?" She asked, Marcos couldn't help scoffing,  
"You thought that was bad? That doc actually stitched me up before he called the cops. That's topflight mutant health care right there." He said sarcastically.  
"I mean, there are protections, though the Civil Rights Act." Caitlin tried to offer, she was desperate to understand what had happened,  
"Yeah, yeah, mutant rights Oh, they're a nice idea. But there's always an exception for public safety. All they have to do is call you dangerous, and you know what happens to those so-called rights?" Marcos snapped his fingers, "poof, they're gone." He explained,  
"How did your family deal with it?" Caitlin asked,  
"They didn't. When I first lit up, I was 13. They kicked me out the same day. Uh, to survive, I had to do a lot of things that I'm not proud of, but it was Lorna who saved me from all that. She's my family. My parents not so much." Marcos explained, his couldn't stop his smirk,  
"No one got it worse than…" His voice faded as he remembered who was sat next to him,  
"You can say it. No one got it worse than Taylor. I know that what I did, what me and Reed did was something – something," Caitlin began panicking, "something's wrong."  
"It's okay." Marcos tried to settle her,  
"Turn around. Turn around!" Caitlin ordered him,  
"It's a security measure." He explained to her,  
"It's what? How?  
"Look, one of our mutants can project fear. It keeps people away from the HQ. It's not usually this strong. Something's wrong." Marcos pulled the car to a stop next to one of the people who acted as security at the HQ. The pair exchanged a few comments in Spanish before the car continued towards the HQ.  
"What's happening?" Caitlin asked,  
"It's not good."  
"What did he say?" She demanded,  
"They're evacuating." Marcos explained, desperate to find Aurora, he wanted to make sure that she was ok.  
"What? Where are my kids?" Marcos didn't respond.

Running outside Lauren and Taylor put the kids down just in time for Marcos and Caitlin to come around the corner, Aurora ran straight into her father's arms while Marcos checked her for any obvious injuries, relief washed over him when he saw that she wasn't injured. Marcos looked at the other three kids, making sure they were uninjured too.

Caitlin hugged Andy and Lauren and then, surprising everyone, she hugged Taylor. Taylor visibly tensed, her eyes darting to Marcos in fear. There were very few people who Taylor let touch her: after years of being tortured, she'd become cautious of people's touches. Marcos knew that most people didn't hug Taylor unless she'd initiated it, the only ones who did so were John, Clarice, the kids, and Gus. No one else, not even him and Lorna. Marcos cleared his throat causing Caitlin to jump away from Taylor in surprise, Taylor to send a thankful look to Marcos.

Taylor pulled Imogen back into her arms, Lauren took Evie and Rose's hands while Marcos took Aurora. The trio led the four kids to a safe distance away from the building, holding them close as they waited for Caitlin to administer the treatment to Clarice. Andy followed the group towards the tree line, not sure what else he should do.

Caitlin ran inside with the medication and after a few minutes the portals stopped, people began slowly making their way back inside to see John lifting Clarice onto a bed as Caitlin attached her to an IV drip.

John saw his friends and the girls enter the building. Marcos and Taylor looked at him expectantly, John just nodded at them, letting them know that Clarice was going to make a full recovery. Marcos ushered the four girls into their room where he settled them down for bed while Taylor came over to her older brother,  
"Y'know. It's weird." John turned his head slightly as Taylor dropped an arm around his shoulders,  
"What is Tay?" He watched her face carefully, knowing how she despised the nickname,  
"Well, I thought that the last time I would ever be on the same side as my family was when I was 15. I mean, after I'd hurt that kid, I knew they wanted rid of me, they cherished the idea of having a child who was different to begin with. Then they sent me away with those… monsters. And now here they are. Well most of them. And they want to help us. That's something I thought I would die before I saw."

John hugged Taylor to his side, the two had a friendship going back long before joining the network. John had sensed her inside the Mutant Rehabilitation Centre known as The Citadel, he'd rescued her with the help of Gus and helped her regain control of her powers, John knew how much Taylor hated talking about family and yet they were with them now.  
"You've been my brother for seven years. You helped me change my last name from Strucker. I remember my little sister. I don't really remember my little brother… What's with the grin?" She asked, narrowing her eyes playfully.  
"I've never heard you say quite so much." He said with a grin earning him a punch,  
"Well, let's just say I had a lot to say today." He hugged her closer to his side, reassuring her softly that he was on her side.

Everyone seemed to be asleep. Well, everyone but Taylor and Caitlin, both had somehow subconsciously ended up in the kitchen. Caitlin rubbed her eyes as she approached the bright area, she saw only one figure in there so decided it was safe to enter, she almost turned around when she saw who it was. Almost.  
"Want coffee?" The simple question took Caitlin aback, she had expected a harsh comment or a snarky remark or something, not a question on whether she wanted coffee.  
"Look, I was 15 last time I saw you. You claim that they told you I was dead, if that's the case then you wouldn't know what they were doing. If that's the case then… yeah, I still hate you, but you can have coffee. So, I'll ask again, do you want coffee?" Caitlin tensed slightly, not too sure of how to proceed,  
"Umm yeah sure." Taylor smirked to herself, keeping her back to Caitlin so she didn't see.

Passing the older woman one of the mugs, Taylor hopped onto the counter, taking a swig of the coffee.  
"So how come you ran with Andy an' Lauren anyhow?" Caitlin shrugged her shoulders,  
"It took me and Reed too long to realize that what we did to you was wrong." Caitlin winced at Taylor's scoff, remembering Marcos' words. Caitlin wasn't stupid, she knew that any hope of a relationship with her eldest daughter was destroyed.  
"For years, we loved you and cherished you for being different and then when Reed joined the mutant task force, things slipped, and we treated you like one of the mutants he was prosecuting and by the time we realized it was too late." Caitlin stopped, she felt her eyes filling with tears, but it felt wrong to let them fall.  
"We got that phone call from your school telling us that you'd caused a kid to collapse in agony. The FBI and Sentinel Services both contacted us with an offer of rehabilitation where they would help you, we jumped at the chance. We wanted you to be OK. Then they told us that you'd died. What happened?" Taylor let her eyes fall to the steaming mug in her hands, watching the steam swirl before she relived those memories.

Taking a breath, Taylor took a moment to order her thoughts and memories before trying to begin her story, something she tried to avoid telling unless her family were with her.  
"They kept injecting me with different serums and chemicals. To begin with, my abilities were only in my palms and only caused intense pain. What they did turned me into a monster." Taylor's voice was barely a whisper. Clearing her throat, Taylor continued her story.  
"My abilities now don't even require me touching someone, that just intensifies the pain. They didn't just enhance my powers, they merged more into my DNA coding, I can't be starved, can't die of thirst, illness, exhaustion, that sort of thing. Plus, I get super strength, not as good as John's though. I managed to… after 5 years, I was rescued by John and… and Gus." Caitlin looked at Taylor questioningly, the woman's eyes were still focused on the steam coming from her coffee,  
"Gus is... well... was Imogen's dad. He died, two years ago." Caitlin gave Taylor a sorrowful look,  
"I don't want your pity." Taylor growled before continuing,  
"Anyway, after they found me, I found a family," Taylor noticed Caitlin flinch at the word,  
"I met Clarice who helped me find my humanity again, she developed a sort of tolerance to my abilities but not like John, Gus, and Marcos, those three hardly notice the effects anymore. I married Gus after 2 years, he served with John." She smiled at the memories of the boys' serving.  
"When I was pregnant, I began worrying about the fact that Gus was away in Afghanistan, but the boys' squad left pretty sharp when the anti-mutant laws changed, their CO told them that they didn't have to leave but he understood that we were fighting in our own war now."

Taylor stopped, attempting to decide whether her mother deserved to know one of the most painful parts of Taylor's life since her parents had given her up.  
"About 20 months ago, only a couple of months after Gus died… I lost our second baby, it died when I was 6 months pregnant. Gus hadn't even known… he wouldn't have gone on that mission if he did." Caitlin felt her breath catch at Taylor's confession,  
"We couldn't go to a hospital, John and Clarice reckon the shock of losing Gus, plus my depression and PTSD and my habit of not eating for long periods of time… all my pain cost me my baby. I found out I would've had a son." Taylor just looked at her hands, she wanted nothing more than to punch a wall or scream. Instead, she sat silently, watching the steam swirling from her mug. Caitlin looked at Taylor with wide eyes and took a sip of coffee only to start coughing.  
"Sorry, I make it strong. John always tells me that I make it poisonous so…"  
"You have depression?" Caitlin asked weakly, not expecting an answer. She wasn't surprised when Taylor didn't give her one.

Caitlin smiled and before she could stop herself, she hugged Taylor close to her. She knew that she had lost countless years of time with her eldest child but now she had a chance to gain it back and she was not about to waste it. Not now. Taylor, on the other hand froze. It only took Caitlin moments to back away, realizing that it wasn't a good idea to hug the young woman in front of her.  
"Look, I'll say this now. I can't ever forgive you for what you put me through – at least, not as Taylor Strucker looking at her mother. As Taylor Nobel, looking at a woman who just wants to keep her two teenaged children safe from Sentinel Services, I may forgive you, one day, I doubt it though. And I will never trust you. I will never accept you being here. I will stand against you. I will do everything I can to get you and your husband away from my family. And I will NEVER be your daughter. You have to know that." Caitlin watched, frozen to the spot as Taylor disappeared from the kitchen.

Morning arose and with it the Head Quarters sprung into life. The four girls began running around with Lauren holding onto Imogen's hand, the little girl had made a friend in Lauren but didn't know that the teenager was her biological aunt. Taylor sat with Sage, running through their supplies and making a list of what they needed, though Sage was also trying to help Taylor understand the basic numbers they worked with. Marcos and Clarice were busy messing with each other outside, training they called it. John sat reading some information on one of the newer stations that was still starting up and needed assistance.

Caitlin found John sat in one of the smaller rooms, further away from the noise of the main HQ.  
"Hey um, can I have a word?" John looked at the woman and nodded, he wanted to make her feel welcome, but he couldn't hide his lack of trust. Caitlin grasped pretty quickly that she'd stepped into a place where everyone was loyal to Taylor, even subconsciously, and that she was hated for causing Taylor harm, even the ones who didn't know that she and Reed had sent her to the Citadel seemed to despise her. She figured out that John had unwavering devotion to Taylor, as did Clarice and Marcos.  
"Well it's about Taylor…" She noticed John tense at the subject, his face turning stony and his eyes becoming sharp.  
"Well we were talking last night, and she was saying how she was a science experiment-" John's glare hardened,  
"She was. Sentinel Services sent her to some place where they experimented on her. They pumped her full of some experimental chemicals meant to inhibit the X-gene, but it just enabled it to grow, they used it and injected her with some awful things just to see what would happen." John paused for a moment, checking to make sure no one was overhearing the conversation.  
"Her powers spread out of her body and she just became the central point as her powers just kept growing. She lost control of her powers; those experiments made her more of a creature than a teenager like she was at the time." Taking a breath, John tried to settle his anger.

Staring at the woman in front of him, John found himself wishing her every ounce of pain possible after what she'd done to his baby sister.  
"When I found her, she was just a scared shell whose mind needed something to latch onto in order to find strength, so now I share a psychic link with her, I feel the pain she felt. I know how scared she was! I feel her fear every time she looks at you! I have never felt her so scared!" John snapped, his voice not growing in volume; he already had a headache from the noise of the HQ and didn't really want it to grow.  
"What they were doing was legal!" Caitlin fired back,  
"Just because it's legal doesn't make it right. Here's a news flash, darkness can't be beaten and if you're surrounded in darkness then eventually that's what you become. Five years locked in the dark is a long time. Sealed in a pure white room where the only company was doctors who torture you takes a detrimental toll on a person. Taylor's not in danger, she is the danger. She's my baby sister, and I will treat her as such." Caitlin took a breath, not too sure if she had any right to ask her next question,  
"John. Um, did… did Taylor really lose a baby." Caitlin didn't need a verbal answer, the way John tensed told her all she needed to know.  
"It killed her when I told her that I couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat. She blamed herself, Gus had been killed two months earlier and Taylor had slipped back into her old state. She stopped eating, that's what she reckons took her baby's life."

John hissed as a scream ripped through the bank, digging deep into his mind, forcing itself louder and louder until it was almost unbearable. John caught Marcos' eye as he left the office, the pair flew down the stairs over to where Taylor was collapsed. Marcos slid across the floor and pulled Taylor into his arms as John grabbed Taylor's hands, directing all the pain that she was projecting into himself. Marcos pressed her head against his chest with one arm and locked the other around her neck making her focus on her breathing,  
"It's alright Tay! Taylor! Focus on my voice, nothing else." John's voice began to soften as the pain inside him dulled,  
"That's it, breathe in and out, focus on that, nothing else, just the breathing, in and out. Forget the pain, I know it's hard, you are not a monster. Not a machine. You're a human being. A mother. A sister. A friend. In and out. That's it. It's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped what happened." Eventually the pain had subsided entirely, John collected a sobbing Taylor into his arms continuing to whisper words of comfort while glaring daggers at Caitlin. He wanted the woman to know that everyone at the HQ would stand by Taylor through everything.

 **Please leave a review xx**


	3. I'll Walk Through Hell With You

**WARNING: Implications of depression, slight reference to miscarriage, mentions of branding/non-consensual tattooing, implications of torture, implications of PTSD**

It was early Saturday evening and Taylor watched the four girls who were sat at a table nearby, they wanted to try and listen but had lost the focus by concentrating more on what they were colouring in. Her eyes were distant as she watched them, her mind trapped elsewhere as she struggled to keep her focus on everything happening around her.

Taylor glanced over to Marcos and John who were continuing to argue over what to do over Lorna, she subconsciously ran her fingers over the brand on her left forearm, just above her wrist – a barcode that had been tattooed there when she was taken to the Citadel. Even the light touches made her wince, the brand had been on her wrist for 12 years, but it still hurt to touch. The scars beneath and covering it didn't help the pain either. Taylor smiled reassuringly to John when he glanced over to her, feeling her pain, the simple smile told him that she was ok.

"So what? We just forget about Lorna because she's behind bars?!" Marcos snapped at John; his sharp words pulled Taylor back to reality.  
"You know that's not what I'm saying!" He was doing his best to avoid raising his voice, both were trying to avoid raising their voices for the kids' sakes but also for Taylor. She needed things to be calm or she could have another crash like a few days earlier. Her mind was getting good at playing tricks on her with her biological family at the HQ. It was getting to the stage that the only way John could pull her back from the edge was through their mental link. It was leaving them both exhausted every time, their minds drained and both suffering from the pain she was forcing out.

"Well, God knows what she's going through in there!" John rolled his eyes, feeling like he'd had this conversation with Marcos 20 times in the last day. It was exhausting just how often they were having the exact same argument.  
"You're taking about breaking into a jail. With guards. With guns!" Marcos nodded as John snapped his response. John felt like he was trying to convince the twins that hanging off the underside of the stairs was a bad idea – a conversation he'd had more than once.  
"Yeah. We have a way passed all of it. Clarice!" John tensed slightly, only visibly to Marcos and Taylor who'd perked up at the mention of her best friend's name.  
"You know what she can do John. Better than any of us. And you saw what she did the other day." John nodded,  
"Yeah, I saw her tearing through the fabric of space, she almost destroyed the whole building. She almost died!" John snapped; he wouldn't let Marcos' goal to get Lorna back cost Clarice her life.  
"She fine now." Marcos argued causing Caitlin to scoff, for the first time since the woman had arrived, Taylor found herself in a stubborn agreement.  
"In your expert medical opinion." Marcos shrugged slightly,  
"Well she's better than she was."  
"Even if she is, she's not ready for this. It'll take time." Taylor defended; Clarice was her best friend. Seeing her hurt, it always made her angry and more likely to lose control of her powers,  
"Then train her. You both train her just like you trained most of the people in this room."  
"Johnny, Clarice has helped on loads of missions before." Sonia said.  
Taylor, who had moved to stand behind Marcos, shared a look with John, both of them knew that Sonia was hoping to remove Clarice from the picture,  
"So you're on his side?" John questioned,  
"I'm on Lorna's side! She's my friend." John rolled his eyes.

"Couldn't you help Mommy?" Came Imogen's voice, the adults all looked over to the girl,  
"Daddy said that you used to be in a place like that." Imogen continued, causing John and Taylor to share a look,  
"You remember your dad?" John asked softly, the girl nodded in response. Taylor moved towards her daughter, kneeling slightly in front of the girl, taking the girl's hand in her own before explaining.  
"Honey, when I was in a place like that, Daddy and Uncle John came to rescue me, I didn't get out on my own." Imogen nodded, hugging her mom briefly before she turned back to her friends. Taylor glanced over to John, moving to stand beside him. John squeeze her forearm slightly, something they did to reassure each other.

The girls all shared a look before turning back to the adults, a helpful look on their faces that left their parents sharing an uneasy glance. Aurora was the brave soul who offered their idea.  
"We could destroy the prison to-" Marcos laughed while John and Taylor raised their eyebrows, trying to keep from smirking.  
"Yeah that's not happening, Rory. I get that you guys wanna help, but this is dangerous." The girls nodded and turned back to their colouring.

"We still live in a country of laws. Have we tried calling a lawyer?!" Caitlin asked, she was beginning to get desperate. Taylor rolled her eyes as the older woman continued,  
"Some members of congress are sympathetic towards mutants…" John shook his head,  
"You're really overestimating –" Caitlin interrupted him,  
"Why not try? We can attack a building, but we can't talk to a person?" The woman's voice was filled with desperation. Taylor sat back down on the couch, rubbing her forehead, she could already feel a migraine coming on.  
"I thought you wanted a fight." She muttered, resting her chin on her hands with her elbows on her knees.  
"I do but there are ways to fight that don't involve battles." Taylor couldn't help but chuckle,  
"Not in my experience." She mumbled, but Caitlin didn't take note. Shatter placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder, he was a dear friend to Taylor who was often there to comfort her when she needed it. John shot a thankful look to Shatter when he noticed him calming Taylor as best as he could.  
"I have contacts, I can reach out." John shook his head slightly,  
"You can't have contact with the outside world while you're staying here. Sentinel Services will be looking for you. We can't risk the exposure." Caitlin sighed exasperatedly,  
"Even if it could help?!"  
"Much better chances they turn on us." Taylor pointed out, her eyes darting between her friends and her mother,  
"Sorry Caitlin, it's too dangerous." Marcos added as a finality.

Everyone headed out in different ways, the four girls staying colouring while Taylor went to let off steam somewhere, John went to find Clarice and Marcos went back to trying to find a way to spring Lorna from jail. Taylor attacked the punching bag with all her pent-up anger, Marcos was beginning to piss her off with the way he seemed to be becoming loyal to Caitlin. Taylor knew that they'd only been friends for a couple of years, but she'd always assumed it had been a strong friendship. Now, she couldn't help doubting that.

Heading upstairs, it didn't take long for John to find Clarice, she was sat with her favourite book and curled up in one of the chairs, Zingo lying by her feet. John smiled as he walked over, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder making her jump.  
"Ok, so Marcos wants you to make a portal into a jail to rescue Lorna." Clarice gave John a sceptical look,  
"Yeah that's not gonna happen, Jay. I know that he want's Lorna out of jail, I do too but it won't work. I can't do anything, see," as to prove her point she tried to open a portal, but it just flickered for a few moments between her hands before it fizzled out, "you'd be better off with a couple glow sticks and a hacksaw." John couldn't help but smile,  
"Since I woke up, my powers, I dunno, they're broken." She shook her head as she spoke, John placed a hand on her knee,  
"Powers don't break, when you were unconscious you were overextending them, you've probably just exhausted them." Clarice nodded slightly, placing her hand on top of John's as he met her eyes,  
"Tomorrow, why don't we… try and get them up and runnin' again?" Clarice smiled softly,  
"Yeah. What have I got to lose?"

John smiled just as a flash of neon ran passed quickly followed by a flash of black and blue, both Clarice and John couldn't help but laugh as they watch Imogen turn to face Evie causing the younger girl to fall over a couch she was running towards and Evie lift it just in time to pass under, Imogen responded clapping, making the floor ripple slightly and knocking over Evie, causing her to drop the floating coach as Aurora and Rose reached the top of the stairs. It was a few seconds before all the girls were up and running again.

John saw a look cross Clarice's features, one he'd seen hundreds of times on her face. Something was bothering her, but she didn't know how to deal with it.  
"You need to talk to Tay. Something's up with her and she's not talking to me. She talks to you. She needs you… go talk to her, Jay, please." John smiled reassuringly to Clarice before standing and letting his hand slip from hers to go and find his surrogate sister.

It didn't take long for John to find her, she was sat on the roof, her chin resting on her knees. The roof was always a bad sign with Taylor, it was where she went when she was slipping away. It was where she went when her mind was back in the Citadel and she wanted to see the sky.  
"Hey Tay." John muttered as he slid down the wall to sit beside her. Taylor didn't even react as he spoke or sat.

The pair remained silent for a couple of minutes; John just stayed sat next to Taylor hoping that she would start the conversation. He shifted slightly, letting Taylor cuddle against him and allowing him to wrap a protective arm around her.  
"I've never been able to do any good with my powers." John glanced to Taylor when he heard her broken whisper. He knew how lost she was feeling.

Carefully, John turned to face her, not letting Taylor slip from his side as he let his eyes meet hers.  
"I've only ever hurt people with them. That boy at school. Those doctors. The other mutants. Everyone here. All I do is hurt people. Why do you all let me stay here?" A choked sob escaped her lips as she finished talking.  
"You've never had anything to use your powers in a positive way. You need to find that before they can start being used for good." The pair fell into a comfortable silence for the next couple of hours until the sun had set.

The pair sat staring at the stars as Clarice joined them, sitting beside John, Marcos joined them all a few minutes later. The quartet sat in companionable silence for a few minutes,  
"Did you guys know that Imogen remembers Gus?" Clarice turned to Taylor in surprise at the younger woman's words. They all shook their heads. Taylor stood up, leading them all back inside.

Darkness filled the HQ by 7pm, Marcos was sat with Aurora on his bed as he attempted to braid the girl's hair, it reached just below her shoulders so Marcos had the stupid idea that it would be easy, he'd seen John braid Evie's hair many times and Rose's, but less so for Rose, she hated having her hair up. He even remembered seeing Gus pull Imogen's hair into braids multiple times. Marcos had seen John do braids and they seemed so simple, but they weren't! Taylor knocked on the door,  
"Yep!" He called through gritted teeth, Taylor was struggling to stifle a laugh as she stepped into the room,  
"Want a hand? John's upstairs laughing his ass off." Marcos rolled his eyes,  
"Rory. Turns out your dad can't braid hair," the little girl started to laugh at this as Taylor brushed and braided the girl's hair in mere moments before she lifted the girl to see Marcos looking at the pair. Aurora reached over to her dad who took her up to bed.

As morning arose, John and Clarice headed outside to try and train Clarice's power,  
"You thought about what I said?" John asked,  
"Yeah but my power? I literally have the ability to bail out of bad situations, being afraid is just a big part of it." John nodded,  
"Yeah but it's not all of it. In the marines, when you want to give up, they train you to focus on something you care about, to hold on to it like your life depends on it because one day it will." Clarice looked at her husband,  
"What did you care about?" He met her eyes,  
"Back then, I still had a lot to prove, about being Apache, a mutant. That changed over the years, I gained you, the girls, a family. I wanted to protect the things and people I care about. You, the twins, Imogen, Taylor." Clarice smiled and hugged John to her side, she had known that things had often been hard for him, but she was determined to make things easier,  
"Just focus on what you care about now." John said placing his hand on Clarice's back,  
"My warm jelly doughnuts." She muttered, glancing at John with a smirk. She didn't know quite why she referred to her family as her warm jelly doughnuts but had done so for years and she still did,  
"Ok, maybe put the coffee down," Clarice took another swig before coughing,  
"Did you honestly let Tay make you coffee, again?" Clarice nodded,  
"I swear she's trying to poison us she's just not very good at it yet," She said with a smile,  
"Anyway… look that way and picture that thing you love and go to it." John didn't remove his hand from her back, he felt almost as if his power was being absorbed into Clarice as the portal grew,  
"Look at that," he dropped his hand from her back and the portal collapsed.  
"See, last time I did this I nearly destroyed the whole –" John shook his head,  
"No, don't do that. Don't focus on the fear. Focus on-" his voice stopped as he tensed slightly, focusing his senses,  
"Yo, what's up, hey!" Clarice called as John walked towards a broken twig, still green on the inside,  
"We have a problem." He stated turning back to Clarice,  
"No, I think you mean you have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps getting into problems." John shot a playful glare at her and he went inside trying to find Marcos.

After 15 minutes, John found Clarice,  
"I'm heading out with Marcos, the Strucker's took off last night so we're gonna go get them before they get themselves killed or arrested." Clarice nodded, wrapping her arms around John's waist,  
"See, you call it a problem, I call it a solution." She said with a grin before turning serious,  
"Be careful," she whispered as he kissed her gently. He nodded in response.

Further inside, Taylor was downstairs in the training room, more like their gym. It was packed with everything they could possibly need for exercise. Shatter came down the stairs and had to duck as a punch back flew towards him and became impaled against the wall. Taylor was pissed, that much was clear,  
"You alright?" Shatter asked, he wasn't too sure if it was a good question or not, it was difficult to tell with Taylor.  
"My mother is determined to bargain for Lorna's release, her two younger children are actin' like they can't survive without their dad and Caitlin is treating me like an animal so… I'd say I'm normal." Shatter couldn't help but chuckle,  
"Well, your boys wanted me to tell you they've gone to chase down your runaway family." Taylor threw her head back and let out an irritated sigh,  
"Seriously, I have been more stressed this week than in the past 7 years. What does that tell ya, Shatter?" He chuckled again,  
"That you've got a bad mix for a family." She couldn't help but laugh,  
"I knew there's a reason you were my friend." Shatter smiled and turned to leave,  
"Your boys'll be pissed if they see that." He motioned to the punching bag sticking precariously out of the wall, she couldn't help but wince slightly.

John tracked the Strucker's movements through the city, letting Marcos drive so that he could put all his concentration into tracking the Strucker's. The pair spent the majority of the day and night trying to follow the trail, but thanks to the amount of people and activity that happened in the city, John had needed to take a break several times to avoid sensory overload. By dawn the following morning, John and Marcos had a clear trail, leading them to a house in a suburb.  
"They're inside." John muttered as Marcos pulled the car over to the curb.

Heading into the house, they quickly found Caitlin lying asleep on the couch. John carefully reached over, shaking her shoulder slightly to wake her up. Caitlin pulled a knife out from under the pillow before realising it was John and Marcos.  
"Caitlin, listen to me. You're in danger here, where are Andy and Lauren?" John asked quietly, Caitlin glared at the pair in front of her,  
"What are you doing here?!" She whispered demandingly, "you can't just break in!"  
"You don't understand," Marcos began, only to be interrupted,  
"Yes. I understand that I'm trying to help my husband." Caitlin growled,  
"What? With favors and phone calls?" Marcos asked, "we discussed this."  
"No, I distinctly remember that there was, in fact, no discussion!" She snapped,  
"Guys, we need to go," John stepped in, putting an end to the current debate, "if we can find you, others can too."

At that moment, Caitlin's brother Danny made his way down the stairs, calling his sister's name. Danny froze when he saw Marcos and John,  
"Relax," John told him, raising his hands slightly as Danny picked up the knife Caitlin had previously held,  
"Danny, please, everything's ok." Caitlin tried to reassure him,  
"No, it doesn't look ok to me." He muttered, pointing the knife at John and Marcos,  
"These are the people trying to help us." Caitlin explained, hoping to calm her brother down.

The sound of tyres squealing in the driveway caused the four to freeze, Danny glared harshly at his sister,  
"What the hell? Caitlin, what you bring mutants into my home?!" Danny snapped. the sound of chatter outside grabbed John's attention, they were about to have much bigger issues.  
"Mutants? Seriously, Danny?" Caitlin began, "the only mutants I brought into your home are your niece and nephew." She snarled. Marcos glanced over to John from where he stood near a window, a nod confirming that the men outside were armed.  
"Save your family spat for later. Right now, we got bigger problems." Marcos told them, stepping away from the window.  
"Get the kids." John instructed Caitlin.

The sound of chatted faded to one voice demanding that they went outside. John and Marcos shared a glance as Caitlin arrived with the kids, Andy and Lauren both looked confused, the third kid looked terrified.  
"God. Who did you tell that you were coming?" Danny demanded, glaring at Caitlin.  
"No one." She snapped back,  
"Well, obviously one of your friends here did, 'cause," John couldn't help rolling his eyes, this guy was really clutching at straws. Danny was cut off when his son interrupted.  
"Dad, I think"  
"Scottie, not now. Please."  
"I texted a pic of a trophy Andy tore apart to one friend." The boy confessed. Instantly, Andy and Lauren were defensive, both feeling betrayed by their cousin.  
"What?" Andy muttered. John and Marcos left the family to their little argument while they checked how many they were dealing with.  
"Oh, Scott."  
"He swore he wouldn't show anyone. He swore."

John and Marcos joined the family in the living room again after several minutes, the pair sharing a look, trying to come up with a plan.  
"They're seven deep out front." Marcos explained, "Anything around back?" He asked, hoping for good news,  
"Yeah, there's four of 'em, and then more outside the kitchen door. We're surrounded." John told them, "look, I can get us through a wall, but if they start shooting while we run, there's gonna be a fight." He said with a shrug, he would be able to shield one or two of them, he knew Marcos could protect himself, but Danny and Scott would be unprotected.  
"Run?" Came Andy's voice, "why should we have to run?"  
"Didn't you hear them?" Lauren asked her brother, rolling her eyes, "there's an army out there."  
"Yeah, so what? We can take those guys." Andy fired back, shrugging his shoulders,  
"Yeah, of course we can take them. But we do that, people are gonna die." John explained,  
"Well, maybe it's time these people learned." Andy muttered. Caitlin's eyes widened at Andy's words,  
"Andy, you don't mean that." She said, trying to sound certain.  
"Yes, I do." Andy snapped back, "listen to them, Mom. They hate us." Another call for Danny to send them out echoed through the house.  
"I'll go." Danny told them.

All attention turned to Danny as everyone processed his words,  
"It's Chuck Sanders." He reasoned,  
"Chuck?" Caitlin asked in shock, "I was on swim team with him. We went to church." She whispered,  
"I know, I know. I don't think you're quite understanding how people how they feel about all this." Danny told her before turning to the rest of them.  
"You guys should move."

Outside, Danny realised just how many people had turned up to try at grab Caitlin and her kids.  
"Morning, Dan." Came the familiar voice of his neighbor,  
"Chuck." Danny tipped his head before looking around, "the hell you doing? Who are all these people?"  
"Just a few concerned folks from the community." Chuck replied nonchalantly.  
"What do you want?" Danny asked, playing dumb,  
"Come on. You know why we're here. Caitlin and her kids, they inside?"  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Danny replied,  
"Cut the crap, Dan. Rick saw a photo on his son's phone when they got up for swim practice." Chuck began,  
"Oh, for God's sake, Chuck, come on." Danny commented exasperatedly,  
"Your son sent it!" Chuck exclaimed, "now, we know they're inside, so just send 'em out so we don't have to search the house." Chuck said condescendingly,  
"Dan, I know they're family, but these kids destroyed half a school." Came the voice of another neighbor,  
"We're just trying to keep everyone safe." A third voice said, Danny couldn't help scoffing.  
"Yeah, and the $300,000 bounty's got nothing to do with it, right, Chuck?" Danny asked in the same condescending manner Chuck had used earlier.  
"Come on, the only person in that house is my son, Scott. Who plays Minecraft with your son, Jacob, who's lived down the street from you since he was six years old!" Danny exclaimed, he took a moment to get his temper in check,  
"Chuck, come on, please just go."  
"He's lying, man. Just go in." Came another voice, "we didn't come here for nothing." Danny and Chuck continued to argue for several moments before Chuck hit him over the head with his gun, knocking Danny to the ground.

The group began to approach the house, yelling for them to open the door. At that moment, the door exploded into splinters, leaving Andy stood in the doorway.  
"Leave us alone!" He yelled with conviction,  
"Leave us alone." His voice became little more than a whisper as a rifle was cocked. John pulled Andy out of the way before the boy could get hurt. Marcos shot lasers at the rifle, heating it until the man was forced to drop it.  
"Leave it!" Marcos yelled as he headed the Strucker's out of the house, letting John lead them to the car.  
"Stay behind me. Get into the car." John ordered, not letting his eyes fall from them until the family of three were all seated in the car.  
"Come on!" John yelled over to Marcos. Marcos ran towards the car, climbing into the passenger seat, leaving John to drive.

The people from the house were following them, John kept glancing in the rear-view mirror as he tried to shake them,  
"What're we gonna do, we can't go back to the HQ with them on our tail." Marcos hissed, trying to keep the two teenagers from hearing them.  
"Taylor!" John growled, Marcos knew instantly that John wasn't speaking to him.

Taylor stood in the tech room at the HQ, leaning against the desk, Sage seated at one of the computers, updating Taylor on everything they knew about the prison Lorna was currently in.  
" _Taylor!_ " The voice rippled through her mind, causing her to stand up straight. Sage glanced over to her friend, waiting to hear what was happening,  
" _What's wrong? What's happened?_ "  
" _We found the Strucker's but things went south. We got the local Mutant Welcoming Committee._ " John explained,  
" _How many are on you?_ "  
" _Eight, maybe ten. Either way we can't afford a fight, we need a way out of this that doesn't leave any corpses._ "  
" _Give me a minute, I'll figure something out!_ " Taylor headed to find Clarice, a plan already forming in her mind.

Taylor found Clarice sat with the girls and Zingo, the girls were all talking and playing as Taylor approached,  
"Clare, we've got a problem." Taylor muttered, placing her hand on Imogen's head,  
"Girls, stay here." Clarice told the kids as she led Taylor out of ear shot of Evie.  
"What's going on?"  
"Everything's gone sideways in the rescue, they've got hicks on their tail. Can you portal their truck back here?" Clarice's eyes went wide,  
"A truck? I can't even make a stable portal!" She exclaimed. Taylor's eyes fixed onto Clarice, she was practically bouncing as she looked at Clarice.  
"Maybe I can help." She stated hopefully. Clarice looked at her, creasing her eyebrows as she tried to figure out what her best friend meant.  
"Look, maybe I can direct my powers into destroying the barriers blocking your powers in your mind. I was thinking yesterday, maybe I can open the pathway to your abilities by forcing mine towards it." Clarice looked at her friend with worry but quickly nodded, she wanted John safe.  
"This may hurt." Taylor whispered to Clarice as she placed her fingers on the sides of Clarice's head.  
"Duh." Came Clarice's response only moments before she let out a silent scream as white-hot pain seared through her mind, all of her psychic wards were forced down as the pain took over all areas of her mind.

Seconds later, Taylor took her fingers away and Clarice became responsive, stumbling slightly as she clutched her temple. She attempted a portal and it opened in seconds, larger and stronger than ever before. Clarice smiled widely at Taylor whose entire face was alight. She'd found a way to use her powers for good. The three women took off in a run towards the road.

Outside, Clarice made a portal just as the SUV came into sight, just think of them, of John playing with the twins, of the nights alone or the night being attacked by two lively girls just think of them, she kept telling herself over and over as the SUV disappeared through the portal followed by Taylor and Clarice who jumped through, sealing the portal behind her.

Clarice ran towards where the SUV had stopped and John was getting out, she ran straight into his arms as the SUV continued to drive towards the main building,  
"Hey. Are you alright?" Clarice called as she ran straight into John's waiting arms, he lifted her slightly and span,  
"I told ya, you could do it. And yeah we're all alright." He placed Clarice carefully on her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist.  
"I can't believe it worked I mean a freaking SUV!" John smiled at Clarice's proud excitement, placing a kiss to Clarice's temple. Clarice glanced at John,  
"It was Taylor." He looked at her in confusion,  
"She used her powers to get rid of the barriers blocking my powers. She found a way to use her powers for good."

John turned to see Taylor walking down the path, her eyes on the ground. He whispered a thank you to her through the psychic link. A small smile graced her lips, she still didn't look up. John turned back to Clarice just as the two approached the door where they were ambushed by Rose and Evie, Aurora was in Marcos's arms while Imogen was holding hands with Andy and Lauren, John lifted Evie into his arms while Clarice lifted Rose. When Taylor finally reached them, the 'family' headed into the bank, Taylor taking Imogen into her arms, she still hadn't spoken since using her powers on Clarice.

The group headed towards the mess where dinner was being prepared, Caitlin came over while everyone was eating and the girls were just chattering away,  
"My brother called, he had information about where they are moving Lorna and Reed. He wants to meet me tomorrow," John nodded and Marcos told her that the two men would go with her. Caitlin left the table leaving the 'family' to their meal as they sat laughing at what the girls were saying. The girls soon fell tired and were lifted by their parents into their room, they were already in their pyjamas, so they didn't need to be woken up to be changed, they were just placed on their beds.

Later that night, Lauren came into one of the common area's and saw Taylor stood by the window,  
"What are you looking at?" Lauren's voice was quiet,  
"Nothing." Taylor whispered before turning to Lauren, "just thinking."  
"Can I ask what?"  
"Memories. Times gone by." Taylor muttered, Lauren raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced,  
"Ok, New York." Lauren laughed slightly as Taylor grinned,  
"Your old friends?"  
"Yeah. There are days where I still want to know what they thought happened to me. I'd been with them that day. I was meant to tell Mom and Dad that they'd offered me a place to train my powers." Taylor's smile faded, "I never did get to tell them." Lauren glanced over to Taylor, she could tell her sister was far away in her mind,  
"Still. If it hadn't happened the way it did, I mightn't have met Gus, or John and Clare. I may have disappeared too. If things didn't happen the way they did, everything might be different."

Lauren settled a look on Taylor, trying to figure the woman out.  
"Do you ever sleep? I mean since I've been here, I've never seen you actually stop to rest." Taylor smiled at this,  
"I don't like feeling trapped. Being stuck in one room for too long, I feel like I'm back at the Citadel, trapped in a cell with… I feel lost sometimes, stuck inside." Taylor took a breath, glancing over to Lauren,  
"I know we say that you aren't meant to go outside, but sometimes… sometimes I just need to escape and see the sky. I often disappear out there at night. It lets me remember. Remember those people in the Citadel; remember you and Andy as the children I swore to protect; remember my friends from years ago; remember Gus, the man who'd saved my heart and loved me despite everything; remember the baby that I lost. I have nightmares, about everything that went wrong and cost me so much." Lauren looked at Taylor who had silent tears spilling down her cheeks, Lauren pulled her older sister into her arms clinging to her so tightly. For the first time in a long time, Taylor didn't tense up, in fact, she returned the hug.

"I know that I have no idea what you've gone through in the past 12 years but talking helps, even if it's the barest minimum, it can help." Lauren's words made Taylor smile softly,  
"Every day I feel guilty. Mom and Dad gave me to those people, they said it was to help me, but I know it was because they wanted the X-gene taken from me. I didn't just lose my trust in our parents, I felt a hatred towards you and Andy as well, and that wasn't fair. Every day for five years, I blamed you guys. In my mind, Mom and Dad loved you two so didn't want the family disappointment around anymore. I hated you and that just wasn't fair. You were just kids." Lauren gripped her sister tighter in her arms.  
"That doesn't matter now."

Morning arose and everyone at the HQ was up and active. Everyone except Taylor and Lauren. John had realised that Taylor was missing early on, but he also knew that she wasn't in danger. Caitlin was searching the HQ for something when John saw her,  
"What's up?"  
"Where's Lauren?" Caitlin asked, sounding almost accusing.  
"She'll be fine." John reassured her as he headed towards Taylor's room. He focused his hearing, hearing two heartbeats.

Opening the door slightly, John smirked when he saw the sisters cuddled against each other. Lauren's head was buried in the crook of Taylor's neck while Taylor's arms held her sister secure against her. John closed the door silently, sending a nod to Marcos and Clarice to tell them that Taylor was fine, he headed to find Caitlin to tell her that Lauren was fine too before he and Marcos headed out with the woman to meet with Danny.

Heading out with Caitlin proved uneventful, they found out that Lorna and Reed were going to be moved to a secret detention centre and a couple of other bits of information but other than that it was nothing of use.

Arriving back at the HQ, John and Marcos sat down with Clarice and the girls and began playing with them, he noticed Lauren was stood with her brother, both embracing their mother. Lauren headed over to the group quickly,  
"Taylor's still asleep, she's ok though. Thought I should tell you. You looked worried." The last comment seemed to be directed at John rather than the others. Just as quickly as she'd arrived, Lauren headed back over to her mother and brother.

John heard Taylor's door open and could see her from where he was sat, she was still wearing her bed clothes, one of Gus' tees and a pair of joggers. She didn't come over and join them instantly, instead she found Lauren and wrapped her arms around her sister and then her brother, she didn't touch Caitlin and Marcos saw the hurt on the woman's face, but he also saw that Lauren was smiling at her sister, she had her sister back.

Taylor headed over to the group where she sat next to Marcos and John as the girls rolled the ball around. Taylor was at peace after nearly two years. A peace that hadn't been possible from the nightmares and the pain, but it was clearing slowly, that much was clear as she sat playing with her new family, her old one just in sight. She finally felt safe. At peace. At home.

 **Please leave a review xx**


	4. To Fight When You Feel Like Flying

**WARNING: Same as the previous chapters. Read at your own risk if you find any of the previous warnings triggering. Tough if you've made it here, I think you know what you're doing by this point xx**

Taylor let her head fall back against her pillow as she heard the birds tweeting outside the window. It wasn't exactly like she was needed today; Marcos could watch Imogen as well as Aurora, John and Clarice were busy with the twins, she just wanted to avoid her siblings and mother, besides it wasn't like she had any reason to-

A banging at her door pulled a groan from her exhausted body,  
"Tay? C'mon!" John. Of course, he would wake her up, she launched one of her pillows towards the door and heard him laugh. Taylor pulled herself from the bed and left the room, not even bothering to dress so was just in her joggers and a tank top, John passed her a jacket as the pair walked through the HQ. He noticed her comfort level increase as she slipped on the jacket, hiding her brand and scars, letting her feel safer in her home.

People were starting to wake up and gather round as John and Taylor approached. Clarice moved to sit on the empty chair next to John who was stood next to Taylor while Taylor stood next to Marcos. Everyone listened intently as John told them that they'd heard news that Lorna and Reed were being moved, John spoke once everyone was settled,  
"We know that Lorna is being held at the Sentinel Services Regional Headquarters. We believe that Reed Strucker is being held there as well." Taylor watched with a cold glare as Caitlin grabbed Andy and Lauren's shoulders while carried on speaking. Imogen came over to Taylor from where the girls had been sat on the floor in front of Clarice and Marcos. Taylor lifted Imogen into her arms gently, keeping the girl close.

Marcos subconsciously moved to lift Aurora onto his lap, the little girl didn't complain as the mention of her mother caused her to worry.  
"They are being moved to an ultra-secure facility." Marcos said, his hand running through Aurora's hair as Clarice moved the twins to either side of her just before John carried on,  
"And we don't know much about it except people who go there disappear."  
"That's why we gotta act now." Marcos snapped.  
"I'm not going to sugar coat this, we're talking about attacking Sentinel Services." There was chatter among everyone before Sage spoke up.  
"We lost six people when we went up against them last time!" John nodded but he wasn't given a chance to speak,  
"I know that better than anyone. And besides, this time it will be different."

Taylor's voice was rough, she refused to drop her eyes from the speaker, Sage had no right to remind them of what they had lost last time, they'd lost friends, but she'd lost her husband, Imogen had lost her father. Her arms tightened around Imogen at the thought of Gus.  
"You're right, last time we just hit a relocation centre with a fence and a couple of guard towers. This time it's a prison. Their systems have improved. Extrapolating from other attacks, we've got an 86.5% chance of failure." Marcos glared at Sage, John looked over to Taylor who seemed impossibly tense, like she was ready to rip Sage's throat out with her bare hands. He wouldn't put it passed her doing just that.  
"And if we do nothing, there is a 100% chance we never see them again." Sage lent back against her chair. Her eyes dropping to the little girl cuddled against Marcos, Aurora's eyes were filled with fear as she listened to the facts Sage stated.

Caitlin took this opportunity to speak,  
"I know we're new here but please." Marcos carried on from her,  
"Lorna's risked her life for everyone in this room. Harry, your parents would be dead

without her. Sage, she pulled you out of a gutter, and she got you clean. I mean, she's… She needs us." Marcos looked around the room as Sage lent forward,  
"Doesn't change the math." Marcos shook his head,  
"I don't care about math, I care about Lorna. Who's with me?" Only very few hands went up, Taylor watched with a fury building in her gut as she raised a pale hand to join the 5 raised.

The crowd dispersed and those that had volunteered to help headed into the tech room,  
"6 people? Unbelievable." John rolled his eyes,  
"Give 'em a break. Many of 'em lost friends last time." He pointed out to his friend,  
"Yeah, so did I. I'm still gonna fight." John looked over to his best friend,  
"You're different. You see a fight on this scale as just a little issue. You've never seen a bad issue for as long as I've known you. Tay, you'd fight even if it was just you." John held his breath; he couldn't deny that fear bubbled inside of him as he tried to gauge his friend's reaction. Relief washed over him as she smirked. Taylor may have been his best friend, but she was still mostly a mystery, even after 7 years together. Even with them sharing a psychic link, John knew her better than anyone else at the HQ, but there were parts of her past that Taylor kept hidden from John. Most of it was her history in the Citadel.

Clarice came into the room moving over to John and placing a hand on his back,  
"So how are we gonna do this? If there's a window then I can portal us in but there are gonna guards and cameras..." Taylor began muttering under her breath, speaking up, she turned to Harry as a plan began to formulate in her mind,  
"Harry can you...?" The man smirked at Taylor,  
"I can make the guards see this-" he made his hand invisible, "but not the cameras." He dropped his hand and Taylor let out a disgruntled sigh.  
"If we go in like that then we ain't comin' back out." John, Clarice, Marcos and Taylor shared a look, their eyes talking while silence filled the room.  
"What if we don't go in?" Caitlin said causing the rest of the room to look at her, Taylor side glanced John as his eyes filled with confusion,  
"Look I know I can't shoot lasers from my hands, but I do have an idea. Daniel said the place they're taking them is far away. To put them on a plane, they'd have to move them. Let's get them while they're moving." Her voice was filled with joy at her idea,  
"That's not a bad idea." Marcos commented.

Taylor struggled to resist the urge to roll her eyes, she turned away and Clarice couldn't help chuckling at her best friend. They all knew that she was facing an internal conflict due to it being a good idea, but the idea came from a woman she hated.  
"It might work. But we don't know the route." John pointed out, "without that-"  
"I think I might know how to get it." Marcos spoke with certainty,  
"How? We don't have anyone with that sort of Intel." Marcos looked at him,  
"The network doesn't but maybe I might." This time it was Marcos who rolled his eyes at John, "The cartel? They have people everywhere man." John shook his head, Clarice looked at her friend with anger, Taylor moved over to him, her hand on his shoulder,  
"The last time the cartel got their hooks in you, you barely got out. Marcos you sure you want to go back to that?" Marcos finally met her eye,  
"No but I'm out of better ideas." John let out a breath while Clarice shook her head. Taylor dropped her hand before finally answering him,  
"Fine." Everyone left the room and Marcos headed to sort out ready to go.

Taylor ran over to him as he walked away, her eyes full of worry,  
"Marcos?!" He stopped but didn't look over, Taylor mentally kicked him for it as she reached him,  
"Are you sure about this? I mean the cartel. Is there really nothing else?" He let out a humourless chuckle,  
"Not unless your old friends on the FBI can help us." Taylor's eyes went cold, a way that Marcos had never seen them go, usually the red eyes were full of emotion, now they were blank with no love or care in them. Instantly, Marcos knew he'd picked the wrong thing to say.  
"Say that again and I will make sure that the cartel is the least of your worries." Her voice sounded like a snake as she hissed out the words. John and Clarice made their way over to the pair and noticed the frost in Taylor's voice.  
"Sorry… but if it was Gus in prison," he looked over to Clarice and John, "or each other, would you be doing any different?" The trio looked at each other but they couldn't disagree, they all knew that they would do anything to save the person that they love.

After Marcos left, the trio were sat around a desk with Sonia, Caitlin and Harry trying to work out a plan. Taylor moved over to the window and all talking stopped, John watched her, but he knew better than to go over to her now, Caitlin didn't. The woman in question went over to Taylor, it was potentially her worst mistake since she arrived.  
"Is everything alright?" Taylor scoffed, the noise caused both John and Clarice to tense up and everyone else to hold their breath, it was uncommon for Taylor to knowingly hurt someone in the HQ these days, but it wasn't unheard of. In fact, it used to be a weekly occurrence,  
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" She snapped, everyone nearby froze when they heard her speak, Taylor never swore to people except her dearest friends and usually they were messing around.  
"I-um-I" Taylor curled he hands into fists, she hated her mother and always would. She had no right to act all loving and caring to her now!  
"You hate mutants! If you ever think of betraying us, you or your husband, I will be brutal. I could destroy you with a single flick of my wrist. You hurt us, you hurt my daughter or my nieces, you hurt my brothers or sisters, and I will force you to watch as I make your world burn." John looked to Clarice who'd slowly been making her way over, she brought Caitlin back to the table before Taylor could do anything. They watched as Taylor gracefully moved outside, they knew she wanted to hurt something, and god have mercy on anything that got in her way.

Once she was outside, Taylor's eyes fell onto a rabbit hopping across the field, she clenched her hand, focusing all her anger onto the fist and revelled in the power as the rabbit writhed in agony on the ground. It eventually stilled as death took it over. What Taylor didn't know was that John and Clarice had been watching her from the window. They continued to watch as she collapsed down to the floor crying as her mind finally registered what she had done.

Clarice opened a portal, her and John passed through before sitting beside Taylor, neither touched her, they could feel the pain rolling off her, they just sat beside her in silence. They knew how to deal with episodes like this, they were easy but at the same time difficult, John felt useless as he sat beside his oldest friend, unable to do anything to stop her self-destruction. Sometimes he preferred her regression episodes where she thought that she was still being experimented on – those were easier.  
"This is my family," John and Clarice heard her whisper, they shared a glance, she usually never spoke when she was like this. They were often sat for hours in silence.  
"This is my crew; you stand by me and I stand by you. We made us one in a time of hard." John smiled at Taylor as her whispering a grew louder and louder until they sounded like a battle cry;  
"You're a fighter! Don't give up now!" The pair grabbed her hands as she began to drop the pain shield surrounding her. A tree at the edge of the woods cracked in half as she directed all of her anger into natural pain. She collapsed, unconscious against John, he lifted her into his arms and carried her up to her room.

Hours passed, and evening fell before Taylor left her room, she looked ill, like she had pneumonia or something, her pale skin seemed paler than ever, her eyes were surrounded by dark purple circles, her cheeks hollow, her hair hung limp on her head, she looked frail. Lauren looked over to her sister and felt like she had been punched in the gut. She remembered Taylor vividly, so seeing her sister like this was a wakeup call as to what the elder of the two had been put through in the past 12 years. Andy didn't really remember his sister much, he just remembered the big sister with wacky hair and eyes that always laughed, his parents favourite child. He didn't really remember her leaving either if he told the truth. The 15-year-old watched from a distance as John and Clarice moved to bring their friend up to speed on the plan.

Lauren found herself staring at her sister often these days, there was once a time that she'd admired her sister for having the courage to stand up against her parents, but now she found that she felt pity for her sister. A woman who was once so indestructible and unmovable when a plan came to her mind whereas now, she seemed weak and tired and scared. Nothing like the 15-year-old that Lauren had memories of from all those years ago. She'd been broken down and destroyed.

Taylor shot an incredulous look to John and Clarice, raising an eyebrow as they finished explaining the plan.  
"A simple plan? You guys think that having 30 minutes to set a plan thought out in 1 day is a simple one? You want us to be ready to fight on the ground with no weapons. No knowledge of how many escorts there'll be. No back up plan. No chance of getting word to Lorna and Reed on the plan. No chance to mess up even an inch. No idea what kind of weapons they'll have at disposal. No idea if Reed is on the inside. Yah sounds simple." John and Clarice shared a look as Taylor glared exasperatedly at them.

John was the first of the pair to laugh but Clarice was quick to join. Harry and Sonia looked at each other,  
"When you put it like that it doesn't sound quite so fool proof..." John muttered causing Taylor to chuckle before darting her eyes over the blueprints. Her mind working to improve the plan,  
"You've got no way of stopping the bus?" The four shook their heads,  
"Yes! Taylor! Andy and I have a way to stop the bus!" Came the call of Lauren, Taylor muttered something incoherent before following her sister outside, John and Clarice followed them.

Taylor folded her arms over her chest as she watched her brother and sister show them what they had done. The pair were able to knock the wheel off of one of the cars around the HQ. John and Clarice shared an impressed look while Taylor looked on with scrutiny,  
"And you think you can do that? On a moving bus? At a distance?" The two siblings nodded, Taylor's face broke into a smirk,  
"Ok. I'll add you in." A resounding 'no' was shouted by Caitlin, the answer caused Taylor to laugh. It was a cold laugh that left John and Clarice stood ready to protect Lauren and Andy.  
"So you can ship your daughter off to a research facility that tortures mutants? You can treat all mutants like dirt? You can act as if you've never done wrong? But we get one chance to save your husband and you block us at every turn?"

John and Clarice stood beside the teenagers as Taylor growled at Caitlin, John moved to subtly put himself between a pissed off Taylor and two teenagers.  
"What is your vendetta against what we are doing?" Her voice was low and cool, there was no way to disagree with it though,  
"You're on about using child soldiers!" Caitlin snapped in response making John and Clarice roll their eyes. Taylor couldn't help but laugh at the idea, her mother had caused hell for her and yet here she was trying to stop children having to fight in a world that she'd help build. Taylor turned away with a shake of her head, she could hear Lauren attempting to calm her mother down, but she wasn't interested.

The following morning had several members of the Head Quarters awake and ready for a battle. Taylor and John sat going over their areas of the plan one last time while Clarice checked on the girls for the eighth time that minute it seemed like. The four parents were all worried. If the plan didn't go right today, it could leave four young girls as orphans in a world which would hate them for their powers. They were all terrified for their kids but today, they needed to be stronger. They needed to get Lorna back.

By 9:35, the group arrived at their points of attack, all preparing for their own jobs. Marcos was with Harry and Sonia hidden in an alleyway. Caitlin, Andy, and Lauren were on a rooftop where they would get a clear shot at the bus. John and Clarice in an abandoned warehouse where they could easily portal into the bus. Taylor was in an alleyway just after the warehouse where the front of the convoy would be so she could take them all down if she needed to. Their final preparations were made as the transport approached.

Fair to say, the plan didn't work. The bus stopped in the wrong place and that was just the beginning. Everyone felt their powers disappear, everyone except for Taylor who felt hers pulled towards someone. Her mind raced, she forced the connection with John open, telling him that her powers were increasing. He told her that his were gone. Within seconds both of them and Clarice knew what was wrong. The three were running to find Him. Someone who'd meant the world to Taylor. They knew that it had to be him – or at least his powers.

Taylor froze when her eyes landed on Gus. He looked ill. Like he'd been starved. She didn't have much time to take in his appearance as Sentinel Service agents began to attack her. She tore them down in seconds. John joined her, taking out the last one. Now only Gus was left. He didn't seem to recognise them. Taylor felt tears prick her eyes as she looked at the man who was her husband. She watched John knock him out. His hand came onto her shoulder,  
"Do what you did to Clarice. Break the walls and find the man who loved you. Pull him to the front, lock the chemically engineered Gus away."

Taylor pressed her fingers to Gus' temple, she let her powers guide her, forcing their way through all of the barriers as they drew her towards the powers of the man they seemed to remember as her anchor. She didn't stop when they found him. She guided her powers to force up wall across the parts of his mind that wanted to hurt her or their family. She guided the real Augustus Nobel to the surface.

When her fingers slipped off of Gus, a purple portal snapped open behind them, Clarice called for the pair to bring the unconscious Gus through to her. Once they had, John slipped away to find Marcos. The portal closed behind him.

Taylor didn't take her eyes off of Gus as Clarice sat beside her.  
"We can't move him 'til he's conscious, this might not have worked and if we take him back to the HQ…" Her voice faded as she looked at the man she'd loved for years. Clarice pulled Taylor into her arms, a reassuring smile on her lips,  
"He'll be OK. He knows what's good for him." Taylor gave a laugh through her tears. She was finally looking at the one man who meant the world to her. Who meant _everything_ to her. She didn't know what she'd do if this hadn't worked, she couldn't watch him die again.

Nearly an hour passed, and the two women hadn't moved, they still had their eyes fixed on Gus, they'd called John to tell him that they were safe. To stop him worrying. The pair hadn't spoken, they just waited. Taylor felt the warmth flutter in her chest, a warmth she'd missed. It was something she couldn't explain, but something she felt when both her and Gus were linked. Like her psychic link with John, she had a different sort of link with Gus. It was like a rope from her heart to his. Her mind had connected to John's when she needed mental strength in her darkest hour, her heart connected with Gus when she needed unwavering love.

Slowly, very slowly, a pair of deep amber eyes opened, squinting in the light of the room.  
"Hey Tay." Whispered a voice that Taylor thought she'd never hear again. Taylor pulled Gus towards her, their lips crashing into each other in a desperate kiss filled with every ounce of emotion from the last two years.


	5. Breaking Rules and Breaking Free

Taylor and Gus could've stayed in each other's arms forever if they had the chance. They held onto each other tightly as Clarice moved to the window,"Hey, I hate to break you up, but Sentinel Services are coming this way. We need to get out of here." The pair stood up, Gus stumbled slightly making Taylor hold his arm around her shoulder."Can you portal us back to the HQ?" Taylor asked, Clarice nodded,"Sort of, it'll take a couple of jumps though.""Well it's better than here." Gus replied as the door was forced open, the resounding crash making Clarice open a portal.

The trio leapt through, landing in a clearing surrounded by woods. They looked around, all trying to figure out where they were. It was several moments before they decided that they were in the woods about three miles south of the warehouse they'd been in moments ago."How're you feeling Clare?" Taylor muttered as Gus wrapped his arm around her shoulders to keep himself upright."Um, I'll be able to do three or four more jumps. But we're gonna have to walk a bit too." The pair nodded before Clarice moved to lead them through the woods.

* * *

John, Marcos, Lorna, and the Strucker parents quickly climbed out of the Sentinel Services car once they had reached a stash of cars. The three mutants began moving to prep the cars,"We gotta talk." John called to the pair, "when we were out there, when we lost our powers…""What did they have?" Marcos asked, his voice filled with both curiosity and fear,"Gus. He was there with Sentinel Services.""That's impossible, he died.""He's with Taylor and Clarice. I've just heard from Tay that he's awake and remembers her." Marcos and Lorna both had their mouths slightly agape at the news."So Gus is coming home?" Lorna asked with hope,"Yeah." John quickly stopped talking, holding up his hand to silence the pair."Sentinel Services drone coming in, we gotta move. Now."

Marcos and Lorna headed off in one car to draw the drone off while John and the Strucker's headed back to the HQ.

John made it back with the Strucker's, looking around, he couldn't find Marcos and Lorna anywhere. He hoped they'd be ok but knew there was also the chance that they would be captured by Sentinel Services. John led them inside, the sight of refugees filling the commons area greeted them caused him to freeze."Shatter!" John called as the man walked by,"What're all these people doing here? What's going on?" He asked urgently, the other man chuckled slightly,"More like what isn't going on. You need to talk to Sage." He stated with a nod.

Silence fell over the HQ when a portal opened in the middle of the commons area. Many of the new refugees tried to move as far away from the portal as they could, all reliving the moments when Sentinel Services had forced them to run."Go! Get through!" They heard the yelling and weapons fire from the other side. John ran towards the familiar open portal, stopping when Taylor, Clarice, and Gus fell through."You hurt?" Taylor asked, both Clarice and Gus shook their heads as they got back to their feet, Gus held his hand out to Taylor, helping her up."Are you?" Gus asked, Taylor just laughed,"When's a bullet ever slowed me down?" She grinned.

Many long-term residents of the HQ look on with wide eyes and open mouths as they saw Gus. Sage was the first to move, running towards him and hugging him before slapping him."What was that for?!" Gus asked with feigned shock,"For letting Taylor and your daughter think you were dead. And for making me, John, and Marcos think we'd seen you die." She said before moving away and letting Shatter hug Gus, the pair had been good friends years ago. Shatter moved away to stand with Sage after a moment letting John and Gus share a look,"I'm sorry." John said, not sure quite what to do,"You ain't gonna go all hard-ass on me now are ya, Proudstar?" Gus commented with a smirk before pulling John into a tight hug. They had been brothers to each other for the best part of 11 years.

Taylor smiled as her brother and husband hugged. Her eyes fell on a group of girls stood watching."Gus." Taylor whispered; the two brothers moved apart allowing Gus to look at what Taylor was. Gus' breath caught in his throat as his eyes fell onto the girls that he was certain he'd recognise anywhere.

He wasn't the only who recognised who he was looking at. Imogen began running towards him in a sprint,"Daddy!" She yelled as Gus caught her, pulling her tight against his chest, Imogen wrapped her arms securely around Gus, burying her face into his shoulder. Taylor ran her hand over her daughter's back as Gus wrapped an arm around his wife, holding her close.

No one moved for several minutes, everyone watched in silence as Gus just held his wife and daughter close,"Why're you cryin' Mommy?" Imogen asked after several minutes,"Because I'm happy, Baby." Taylor reassured her daughter. Gus wrapped his arm tighter around Taylor in order to reassure her. Taylor glanced over to John, smiling a thank you for him telling her how to help Gus. Her eyes landed on Lauren; the teen was stood watching her sister.

Gus turned his eyes to Lauren, raising an eyebrow to his wife, silently asking who she was focused on."Gus, meet my little sister. Lauren, meet my husband." Gus placed Imogen gently on the ground just in time for Lauren to pull him into a hug. Confusion etched its way onto Gus's features,"Thank you." Lauren began, "for being there for my sister." Gus smiled and returned the hug. Taylor's eyes widened briefly at the sudden interaction. Lauren had been close to her sister for a while, but there was no behaviour like this from the teenager.

Lauren turned away from Gus, letting him return to reuniting with his daughter. Lauren glanced between John and Clarice, her lips parted,"What's up?" Clarice asked, startling the teenager, Lauren's cheeks flushed slightly before speaking,"Um, I was wanting to learn how to fight. Like hand-to-hand combat." She stated simply, John, Clarice, Taylor, and Gus all shared a look, gathering around Lauren."What makes you want that?" Taylor asked softly, shifting to stand closer to Gus,"When we were out there, when we lost our powers… a Sentinel Service agent was right in front of us, and I couldn't do anything. I felt helpless… I don't wanna feel that again." Lauren whispered, messing with her sleeve."Yeah, sorry about that." Gus muttered,"Wasn't your fault." Taylor stated with certainty before turning back to Lauren,"Lauren, if you want to learn how to fight, we'll teach you. But it won't be a quick solution, it'll take time, and you won't be good instantly, if you wanna learn how to fight, then we'll help you." Lauren smiled, thanking her sister and friends before walking back towards her parents.

The group all shared a look as the door opened, Lora and Marcos made their way into the HQ. Their eyes searching for one person. As soon as Lora's eyes landed on Gus, she ran towards him, John had just enough time to take Imogen into his arms before Lorna had launched herself to Gus. Gus laughed as he wrapped his arms around Lorna, stumbling backwards slightly from Lorna's speed. Marcos reached the group with a smile, joining the hug for a moment.

The group all felt like a weight had gone, one of their shadows had been lifted with the return of their family members. They'd gained one more than they were expecting, and it had made their family complete. With Gus back, they all hoped that a smile would return to Taylor's face, that laughter would be able to be heard around the HQ, that some of the fear would leave them all.

Marcos and Lorna backed into the circle, John placed Imogen on the floor, letting the girl run back towards her friends. The adults moved into one of the empty offices, Sage, Shatter, and Sonia followed. Caitlin was working on patching up Harry after he got shot by Sentinel Services. Gathering around the desk in the office, the group began bombarding Gus with questions, Clarice noticed John wincing as the noise increased in the room,"Shut up!" She yelled, silencing the group, "quiet talk please."

Gus collapsed into one of the chairs, letting out a breath before beginning on his story."When we were attacking that relocation centre and I got shot, they took me to some facility where they fixed my injury and then chemically altered my mind until I couldn't refuse to follow their commands. I don't really remember anything about it, just that there were about fifty mutants all held in the program." Gus' voice faded off as his fingers ran over his wrist, his sleeve hiding something. Taylor knitted her eyebrows together as she watched him,"They branded each of us," he lifted his sleeve just enough to show the symbol, "it's the HOUND project logo. It's what they called the program I was in. For something like Task Industries. I dunno…"

The group all shared a look, doing their best to figure out what Gus had been through. Sonia raised her hand slightly,"I could search through your memories, see everything they did." She offered; Gus nodded quickly. Sonia read Gus' mind with unnerving ease, checking his memories for everything he knew about what had actually happened to him."It's called Trask Industries. That's actually all you know." Gus deflated as Sonia backed away,"How is that all I know!" Gus exclaimed before storming from the room.

Taylor followed Gus from the room, leaving the rest of the group to question Sage about the uptake in refugees at the HQ."As soon as you hit that convoy, Sentinel Services hit back. Hitting any place there were even suspected mutant sympathisers. With no warrants. They were out for blood." John, Clarice, Marcos, and Lorna shared a look before John voiced their thoughts,"We've got our hands full. And we cant move anyone, not with this kind of heat.""Plus, if Taylor begins to regress, more people than ever before are in danger, and with her dad here, it's a very real possibility." Clarice added, finally taking the time to consider what Caitlin and Reed being at the HQ would mean for her best friend."I've been manning the police scanners, trying to keep our people off the grid." Sage offered, easing some of their worries,"Good. We need to keep listening. If anything comes up on the scanners, we need to know about it." Marcos stated before the group left the room, all heading to do their own thing.

Useless. That was the only word Gus could use to describe how he felt. He felt as though he was letting his friends, his family, down. He was the only one who knew anything about the mutants turn on each other, and he knew nothing. Punching the wall, Gus let out a yell only to turn and see Taylor,"I'm glad it's not just me who finds that satisfying." Taylor said with a smile.

Gus stepped closer to Taylor, his hand cupping her cheek. Taylor licked her lips as Gus moved closer to her, she could practically feel his heartbeat as she moved to keep her back against the wall. Gus' lips collided with Taylor's the kiss was intense, filled with desire and lust. They were desperate, running out of air but neither wanted to break the kiss. They didn't want to let the other go. Eventually, the need for air became too much, the pair broke apart, Gus kept his forehead resting against Taylor's as they caught their breath.

After several minutes, the pair finally moved, Gus pulled Taylor to his side before he spoke,"So, your sister's here." He stated, it was fair to say that he was shocked. Gus knew what Taylor better than anyone else, better than John and Clarice."Not just her." Taylor muttered as they entered the building. Gus glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. Taylor nodded her head towards where Lauren was stood with her brother and parents."Your folks are here?" Gus hissed. Taylor nodded; Gus felt her fear spiking as she finally looked at her father.

Taylor fell to her knees as her mind began to disappear in on itself, she felt her powers spreading, forcing themselves out of her. Gus didn't get much time to think as he felt Taylor begin to buckle beside him. The familiar feeling of her powers trying to attack him flooded his system.

Gus gripped Taylor close to him, pulling her onto his lap, he nodded towards John, letting his best friend know he'd got this under control."Tay, you're safe, I've got you. I promise, I won't let them hurt you again. I've got you now, and I'm not gonna leave you." He kept reassuring her until her powers receded, the pain disappearing from around him. Taylor's arms locked around Gus, holding him close as if she was afraid that he would disappear.

The feeling of pain reached the Strucker family as Taylor fell, the sensation becoming annoyingly familiar to Andy and Caitlin. Lauren didn't experience it as much as they did. Reed, on the other hand, was left gasping in pain, a look of familiarity flashed across his face as the pain disappeared just as quickly as it had developed.

Reed moved to approach the woman on the floor, his mouth agape when he saw her. He'd recognise her anywhere. Against his better judgement, Reed descended the stairs towards the pair on the floor."Taylor?" He whispered as he approached. Clarice noticed Reed approaching her friends, she grabbed Taylor away from Gus just as Reed reached them.

Gus let his hand fall from Taylor's back as his eyes darkened, everyone gathered around as Gus clenched his hands into fists. John moved to keep Lauren and Andy away from their father and Gus, knowing that this was likely going to be bad. Gus moved easily, his fist colliding with Reed's stomach, forcing the man to the ground. Gus pulled Reed to his feet, holing him as his fist connected with his stomach several more times, leaving Reed winded and gasping for breath."Listen to me carefully, I will only say this once." Gus' voice was barely louder than a hiss, but in the silence of the HQ, he was heard perfectly,"You stay away from Taylor, you stay away from Clarice and Lorna. You don't go near them or their children. If you so much as approach Imogen, Evie, Rose, or Aurora, I will amplify the pain you are feeling right now until you can no longer remember your own name. I will make what Taylor went through seem like heaven in comparison. If you endanger anyone in this building, if you attempt to sell us out, or hurt us, or betray us, I will kill you. Is that clear? If you endanger Lauren or Andrew, I will destroy you. If you hurt my wife, I will reciprocate the action." Gus dropped Reed to the floor, letting his nose connect with the concrete, breaking as it hit the floor."The same rules apply to your wife." Gus spat as he walked away.

John followed Gus out onto the roof, he tried to contain his anger, but it wasn't easy, he'd hoped that Gus would still be alive, but it was a fantasy, he'd seen Taylor break so much in the past two years. And now, Gus was back to his old protective ways."What in the Hell was that?!" John snapped once the door was closed, he could practically hear Gus rolling his eyes,"It was me, making sure that the cop knew where we sat." John growled at Gus' voice,"Don't give me that crap. You may be able to fool most of them with it, but I know you. There's more going on." Gus snapped to face John,"I saw that hell." John's eyes widened,"They showed us footage of the Citadel, I hid it from Sonia, but Taylor knows. Hell, she always knows. They used it as training footage, showing us 'what the enemy do'. Even with their drugged control, I've never felt an anger so strong." John sat down on one of the benches, he knew Gus had a temper that could rival Lorna's, he was always one that you did not want as an enemy."He sent her there. He put her in that place and left her to rot." Gus's voice broke up as he spoke, his anger melting, leaving only hurt,"Why'd you leave me there, John? Why didn't you come back?" John looked down to his feet,"I wanted to, Marcos and Sage dragged me away. I couldn't… I couldn't get back, I wanted to. You're my brother." Gus' response caught in his throat; he didn't know what to say.

John stood up from the bench, moving to stand beside Gus as Gus found the words he wanted to say."All I've wanted to do for the last seven years is protect Taylor, and then four years ago it grew into protecting Imogen as well. And now he's here, and he poses a greater risk to them than anything else." Gus commented, turning away from John to look over the railings to the woods."I felt it when we brought Caitlin and those kids here for the first time. It was like everything I've helped my baby sister recover from has been pointless." John muttered as he looked over the woods, avoiding looking at Gus. Gus turned to look at John, fear ebbing it's way into his mind."How bad is Taylor gonna get? We don't even know what her triggers are.""Crowds, small spaces." Came Clarice's voice,"Large spaces, white rooms, loud noises, silence." Taylor stated as she joined them,"Her family, old buildings, chains, feeling powerless." Marcos added from behind Taylor."Yeah, I think it's clear that anything could trigger me if it's a bad day. I've been able to cope with my siblings and Caitlin being here. It's just… seeing him… I don't know, everything was just…""Wrong." Lauren stated, finishing her sister's words.

Lauren had followed the group of friends to the roof after seeing what Gus did to her dad. The group all stared at Lauren for a moment,"It's the same thing I felt when Dad told a father and daughter to leave a bowling alley when the girl had accidentally used her powers. I hadn't long manifested mine, so I felt like everything was just wrong." Lauren explained, her eyes scanning the group,"They treasured the fact that I was different for so long, they only stopped when it was no longer simple. They sent me away and I never even got to say goodbye." Tears slipped down Taylor's cheeks as she finished, the events of the past few weeks catching up with her, taking all of her energy with it."How's Harry?" John asked, quickly changing the topic before Taylor had her second breakdown in less than an hour."Mom says he'll make a full recovery, it's likely to take a while, but what'd you expect. I mean, he got shot." Lauren told them all as they sat on the benches, the group all let out a breath at the news."You still wanna train?" Taylor asked, Lauren nodded fervently.

John and Taylor shared a glance, their eyes and expressions shifting as they silently spoke to each other,"So while the Tweedles are chatting without us," everyone laughed at the comment while John and Taylor just glared at Gus. He used to be the only one who got away with calling John and Taylor the Tweedles, Clarice was quickly to join in, and by the time they'd started the HQ, it was their nickname whenever they were talking silently in a group."We were discussing training Lauren, actually, deciding who'd be better to teach her." Taylor stated,"We decided that we'd advise considering… y'know, we'd potentially kill her." John added, Lauren tensed at the comment,"So we're left with you four. And Clare and Lorna haven't had much in the way of hand-to-hand experience, so that-" Taylor continued,"Leaves Marcos and Gus to train them,""But Gus has had military tactic training, so he'd-""Be the better choice to conduct the training while Marcos partners with one of you guys." the others rolled their eyes at how easily the pair were able to flow. There weren't breaks as they spoke each other's words, letting the sentences flow between them. Lauren looked at the pair with confusion,"Oh, don't worry, they've been doing it for seven years, you get used to it.""That's my worry." Lauren responded, everyone laughed as they headed back inside. Clarice draped her arm over Lauren's shoulder as she took John's hand, keeping their newest friend close as they entered the HQ and headed to the mess for some food.

The mess was boisterous at this time of day, it always was. But that didn't make it any easier on John, his heightened senses meant he heard every noise louder than anyone else. Instantly, John felt his head aching as the noise grew. The stress of the day didn't help; he'd spent most of the day with a migraine.

Grabbing their food, the group headed over to where Sage and Shatter were sat with the girls, making sure they had food. It was fair to say that the makeshift family was more than grateful for Sage and Shatter helping with the girls as often as they did."We thought you guys might have needed some time to… catch up. So, we decided to get them food." They all thanked the pair before the went to grab their own meals. Lorna turned to Lauren"So, you're Taylor's little sister?" She asked with a smile, hugging Aurora tightly before starting on her food."Yeah." Taylor smirked at Lauren's quiet response. Gus watched them all longingly, he was home, and yet he felt so far away."Daddy?" Imogen's voice grabbed Gus' attention, it grabbed everyone's attention."Can you read us a story tonight?""Of course I can, Chaos." He couldn't help the grin that fell onto his face at her request.

The meal continued and Gus couldn't help but notice that Taylor was just pushing her food around her plate, His hand fell onto hers, stilling it. Everyone watched with silent anticipation; no one ever distracted Taylor when she was like this."Just eat one bit for me?" Gus asked softly, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand as she took a bite of the food in front of her. Imogen moved quickly, gabbing a sheet of stickers and sicking a gold star on her mom's top. No one could resist the urge to laugh at Taylor's offended expression."Cos' Mommy finally ate something." Imogen stated proudly before returning to her own meal.

That night, Taylor lay in bed cuddled against Gus, his hand holding hers loosely as he slept. It only took two hours before Taylor was creeping from her room. She wandered the empty corridors silently, doing her best to avoid waking all of the sleeping refugees."Can't sleep?" John's voice echoed in Taylor's mind, the woman rolled her eyes as she sat against a wall,"How'd you know?" She could hear John laughing in her mind, this was a regular conversation for them; both of them up later than they really should be, but neither expecting sleep."I know you. What's up?" Letting out a breath, Taylor decided to try and explain."Nothing. Felt trapped. Not by Gus, just in one room for too long.""I get it. You hate it. You always have done. It's not your fault, Tay, it's just the way it is.""How'd you figure that one?""You were tortured, abandoned, and spent a year chained to a bed. That kinda told me." Taylor couldn't help rolling her eyes as she listened to the voice that was an all too familiar part of her mind."Get some sleep, Proudstar.""Night Tay."

Heading back to her room, Taylor saw Gus awake, fear filling his eyes. She pulled him into his arms, letting him draw any form of comfort from her, his heart pounding as he figured out where he was. The nightmare finally loosing it's hold and allowing Gus to regain a grip on reality,"You're safe, we both are."

Relaxing just enough, Gus scanned the room slightly, his eyes falling on, what was once, his bedside table. With a curious smirk, he opened the drawer, his old tin box still inside. Lifting the box onto his lap, Gus couldn't help but notice Taylor averting her face, inside was a variety of things including two items that were beyond important to him. The first was his dog tags from his time in the marines, he had taken them off on that day when they'd struck the relocation centre. Slipping on his dog tags, he took the second item between his fingers – his wedding ring. Taylor took it from his hands, sliding it into its place on Gus' ring finger. Taylor pulled him towards her by his tags, kissing him deeply as his fingers threaded through her hair and his other hand fell onto her lower back.

The pair fell asleep in each other's arms, content with their lives for the first time in two years. They were home, and together, and they had their daughter. Everything would work out because their family was whole. They had their siblings, their nieces, their daughter, and each other. Nothing else mattered in that moment.


	6. I'll Be Right Beside You, Dear

Lauren's first day of hand-to-hand combat training was, in one word, intense. It was fair to say that after the first hour was by far the easiest with John and Gus guiding her through basic fighting strategy. Clarice and Lorna joined them in the second hour, learning defensive strategy rather than offensive. By the end of the fourth hour, the group all decided that they'd definitely earned their lunch.

After lunch, Taylor joined the group, leaving the girls to have lessons from one of the people who was staying at the HQ who'd been a teacher. The adults had decided that they wanted their kids to have some semblance of an education.

Others began gathering outside, watching as their leaders, Lauren, and Gus paired up to begin fighting, Gus was staying out in order to offer advice and guidance as someone needed it. John turned to Taylor as the pair separated themselves from the others, a grin on his features."Ready?" Gus stopped the pair before they could begin,"What're you two playing until?""First break." Taylor stated simply, now it was her turn to a grin as John groaned in response, knowing it was going to be a long fight. Clarice, Marcos, Lorna, and Gus just laughed at John's reaction. Lauren glanced at the pair with confusion, noticing her sister's expression, Taylor explained,"John doesn't like going until first break because it means that we'll be going at each other for a while and beating each other until one of us successfully breaks a significant bone in the other that repairs itself quickly. A bone that won't heal quickly results in disqualification." Lauren just seemed even more confused than before.

Two of the three pairs set off in fights: Clarice against Lauren, and Lorna against Marcos. Their duals were full on, but they were just trying to get the other in a hold that they'd be able to knock someone out with. Their fights lasted several minutes. Once the two pairs were done with their first fight, John and Taylor headed back over to the area they'd claimed for their fight.

Everyone became too intrigued by Taylor and John's match to carry on with their own. The pair moved quickly, ducking from the other's blows before they could land a successful hit. Taylor was more agile, darting this way and that. John had faster reactions, moving out of the line of fire just in time to dodge. The pair were mocking each other, doing their best to distract the other without crossing any lines. John and Taylor didn't acknowledge their growing audience, nothing else seemed to be important despite winning the match. They were holding back, but only just; Taylor wasn't using her powers, John wasn't using his full strength. They both wanted to win, but neither wanted to do any major damage.

Lauren's focus was undivided as she watched the fight in front of her, she couldn't help her fascination at how easily the pair moved and dodged each other. Gus noticed her intrigue easily,"They know each other so well, they're literally inside the other's mind, they know what strikes the other is going to attempt and when. It's why going to first break takes so long. We don't mean first broken finger, we mean a serious break, something that they won't heal from in half a minute. That's the main problem and the reason Clarice and I are usually the refs; we're the ones that know which bones count." Lauren's eyes were wide when Gus finished, but she still didn't once turn away from the fight.

Despite having the faster reactions, John was the first one to hit the floor; Taylor had managed to grab him and force him down, breaking his left wrist as she did so, but that didn't count. John retaliated quickly, his foot landing squarely on Taylor's stomach winding her and forcing her to her knees. Grabbing her arm and pulling it behind her back, John levelled the playing field as he dislocated her shoulder and broke her humerus. A hiss was the only response Taylor gave."Calm down, Python." John laughed, a glare from Taylor not even slowing him down."You wish, Thunderbird."

The pair seemed to be locked in a dance, neither having the upper hand for very long, both spewing fire in their words as they did everything that they could to work the other to breaking point and gain the upper hand,

"You abandoned your best friend to be tortured." Taylor spat as she kicked the side of John's knees, forcing him to meet the floor once again, an elbow between his shoulder blades left him momentarily dazed,"Your parents didn't even love you enough to keep you." John shot back, getting back to his feet, blood and sweat staining his shirt as he struck out at Taylor. Though John's words only seemed to give Taylor strength, giving her an upper hand as she pinned John face down to the ground, her hands locking around his throat and her knee digging deep into his back. Her other foot stomped down onto John's femur, breaking it in several places.

Rolling off of John, Taylor checked to make sure he was ok before moving to address the crowd that had gathered,"If any of you want to train in hand-to-hand combat, or in using your powers for the offensive, then meet us out here tomorrow, 10am, don't be late." Turning back to John, Taylor offered him her good hand, he took it easily, pulling himself up before using Taylor as a sort of crutch until they got inside.

By nightfall, both John and Taylor were healed. Fair to say that both of them were grouchy thanks to the pain the healing caused. Heading towards their family, Lauren turned to her sister and friend,"Are you gonna fight with me like that?" She asked, her voice trembling,"No. God no. There's a reason that we only ever train combat with each other, we can inflict serious damage and be sure it'll heal. We know which bones heal faster and which'll stay broken for longer. Taylor knows what things she can say that'll distract me just enough that she can win, and I like to think that I know the same about her. But sometimes we can misjudge." John explained as he sat down, lifting Rose onto his lap,"Like today?" Lorna commented with a grin."Like today," Taylor agreed, her hand falling onto Gus' shoulder as she hugged to him, ruffling Imogen's hair where the girl sat on her Dad's lap."John was in the perfect position to win, he should have won, but he got cocky. He tried to distract me with the wrong words, words that used to work." John rolled his eyes,"Don't remind me. By the way, it may heal quickly, but breaking my leg still hurts." The group all laughed as John complained to Taylor. Rose hugged against her dad with a grin on her face; when the HQ was quiet, Rose was able to hear what her family were saying better, though it did take a lot of focus. The kids had all learned that John and Taylor could fight each other because they knew each other."We fight based on strength and power levels. Gus'll happily combat with either me or John, but he's a lot more… breakable than we are. So, we have to be more careful. We go against each other so we can train further. Clarice, Lorna, and Marcos are closer to each other in hand to hand, but Marcos and Gus will quite happily pair up. When we're doing powers, Marcos is with either Lorna, Clarice, or Gus; Gus is with either Marcos, John, or me; Lorna is with either Marcos, Clare, or Gus; Clarice is against Marcos, Gus, or Lorna; John and I are only ever against each other or Gus. It can get too dangerous for us to be against anyone else." Taylor stated as she settled against Gus.

Clarice parted her lips, desperately trying to find the words she wanted to say but not figuring out how to say them. Her eyes glanced around the group as they continued speaking, Clarice just watched rather than giving her own input. It only took a few moments for Gus to notice his friend sat silently,"Clarice? What's up?" The entire group turned to Clarice, waiting for the woman to respond,"Do you guys remember when I lost control of my powers?""Yeah." Responded most of the group, except Gus and Lorna, the group quickly filled them in on the rundown as to what happened on that day."Well, I kept opening a portal to the same road. I wanna find it and find out why." Clarice stated. The rest of the group shared a look at the idea,"Clare… Sentinel Services are cracking down, are you sure that it's a good idea to go now?" Taylor's worried voice spoke what they were all thinking."I know, it's a risk, but I have to find out what that road means. It's… I dunno… it's important to me for some reason."

Sage ran towards the family, panic flooding through her from what she'd heard over the scanners, everything bad was happening."Guys! You need to come and see this." She called, out of breath as she reached them. The group all shared a look before following Sage, the girls had stayed back with Lauren; they knew that the thing Sage told their parents were for grown-ups only.

In the tech room, Sage began talking statistics and numbers, leaving the others baffled and clueless as to what she was talking about."Ok, Sage, I have never had any math test, dumb it down for me. Remove the technobabble." Taylor stated, Sage froze, apologizing silently."I heard about an attack Sentinel Services are planning, they're planning on raiding the South Atlanta station. If they hit them, we lose half our key communications. We'll be exposed, they'll know everything about Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina.""So it'll be bad." Lorna commented. The others were too frozen to respond,"So contact them." Lauren stated from the doorway, everyone turned to face her,"Tell them they're gonna be attacked and to send all their info here and then destroy it. Tell them to scatter to other stations." Taylor nodded her agreement with her younger sister.

The group all began calling multiple contacts at the South Atlanta station, it was about two hours from them and was more for intel rather than refugees. As such, there were only roughly 20 people at the station, according to Sage, their chances of getting out were at 97.4%."I think we need to send some people to Baton Rouge. According to Reed Strucker, there's a courthouse that processed several of his cases, they're bound to have more information on the HOUND project." Sage stated, the idea made the group tense, while they couldn't deny the fact that they'd been considering it, the idea of following something suggested by Reed was sickening to all of them."I'll go with him, I can burn the stuff we don't take." Marcos stated simply, trying to diffuse the tension that was beginning to make the room suffocating."We'll start planning once this has been dealt with. One problem at a time." Gus commented as he ended one call.

John and Taylor had settled themselves at one of the computers, logging into the hidden server used by the underground known the Network, sending an immediate alert to the stations at risk. John also pinned a notice for any information that any station had on the HOUND project, letting the rest of the underground know what was happening.

Almost instantly, people began replying. Telling stories of mutants hunting other mutants for Sentinel Services. Lauren glanced over to the computer screen,"What's that?" Her voice startling everyone in the room,"It's a sort of Discord server if you like." Sage began,"Every station has someone that can access it, it lets us give fast alerts to everyone if a station is attacked or lost. It also lets us ask for supplies, places to send people, that sort of stuff. Here, there's me and Tay who can access it, if we were to be killed or captured, Lorna, Marcos, and Clarice all have emergency access codes, Gus used to but his was deactivated when he was supposedly killed." John finished, his eyes not leaving the screen as he and Taylor read through the information people had on the HOUND project."Read that." Taylor muttered, talking only to John but not looking over to him, pointing at one piece of information. John's expression remained blank, but his hand squeezed Taylor's slightly, reassuring her. Closing out of the server, John turned to Taylor,"You still got your contacts?" She nodded,"You know I've gotta go alone.""Yep, but you'll let me know if anything goes wrong."

Their conversation had made everyone else in the room stop, all of them looking over to John and Taylor, waiting for an explanation."Clarice, you wanna find that road?" Clarice nodded, raising an eyebrow at John's question,"Pack a bag, we both leave this afternoon." Taylor's words left everyone with more questions than answers but Taylor just walked out of the room."Marcos, if you want to get into the federal building, you need a way to get through a solid concrete wall quickly." John leant against the table as he tried to consider possibilities."Andy could do it." Lauren stated, pulling John's attention back,"Ok. Fine. Lorna, train the people here to use their powers for combat. Gus, do the same, but hand-to-hand." Everyone nodded and left the room, planning, packing or preparing.

Everyone except John, Gus, and Lauren. The trio all shared a look."What about you, Proudstar?" Gus asked,"I'm gonna be keeping an eye on the server and Taylor and Clarice. Keeping them off the grid. I will tell you if Taylor needs help.""Help with what? What'd you two see that freaked you out so much?" Gus stepped closer. He wasn't asking, but rather demanding, his voice a low growl."Trust me.""I do trust you. I trust Tay too. I'd just be more comfortable if I knew where she was going." Gus muttered."I know, brother, but she'll be relatively safe." Gus scoffed slightly, not so much at John, but of the thought of Taylor in danger.

Gus left the room, deciding it was better to help Taylor pack and then plan training rather than argue with John. Lauren glanced to John,"What'd you want me to do?""Convince your parents to let your brother help. Then help with the refugees." Lauren's eyebrows creased,"Are you alright?" She asked, John just muttered that he was fine."Then what caused you and my sister to stop and decide that everything needed to happen ASAP?" John let out a breath, turning back to Lauren,"Let's just say that Taylor's past is coming back to bite us in the ass." John stated before leaving the room to check on the kids.

Taylor's bag took minutes to pack, leaving her pacing the bedroom. Gus quirked an eyebrow as he saw her,"Oh, I know what that means." His voice startled Taylor, grabbing her attention fully."Pacing means someone's said something that's risking us. The small bag means a couple days away. And you and John hiding things means it's to do with either the Citadel or what's happened while I've been away.""I'm sorry. But you have to be kept in the dark. It's just… I dunno." Taylor collapsed onto the bed, her head in her hands,"You don't have to explain yourself Taylor, just promise me you'll be ok.""I will always find my way home. Just like you." She smiled, kissing him tenderly before grabbing her bag.

Meeting Clarice in the hallway, the two women headed outside, John and Gus following them. A car had been pulled around front for Taylor while Clarice was going to be using her portals."Be careful, let me know if you get into any danger." Gus whispered, kissing Taylor one last time before she got into the car. Moments later, she was driving away.

John kept going over everything they knew about the road that Clarice had tried to portal to, Clarice crashed her lips against John's, silencing him. As the kiss broke, Clarice smirked,"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." John smiled at Clarice's words,"I'll always worry about you. And with Taylor going away too…""Wife and baby sister go away at the same time on equally dangerous missions." Clarice smiled, "Taylor will be fine, she's smart." John nodded before kissing Clarice again, letting her portal away.

Lauren glanced towards the doorway, hesitating to carry on with her job when she saw her sister leaving. Catching her eye, John sent Lauren a reassuring nod, letting her know that everything was under control. Lauren shot a look over to where Andy was carrying another crate of water bottles, it took her only a moment to catch up to him, a box of food rations in her hands."Man, all these refugees…" Andy muttered, "glad we beat the rush. I mean at least we got, like, actual beds." Lauren couldn't stop herself rolling her eyes at her brother's ignorance,"You do realize that we're the reason there is a rush? Sentinel Services have been freaking out over us.""You wanna give up your bed?" Andy shot back, "I know; shut up and get more water." He muttered before wandering back to the storeroom.

One of the refugees had been watching Lauren for several minutes, his eyes tracing her every movement as she handed out more food rations,"Hey. Have you got any other flavors? Besides Salisbury steak?" The refugee asked, Lauren shook her head,"They're all the same." She tried to move past him, but he blocked her path,"You take care of refugees? What's your name?""My name is 'I have work to do'." She stated, trying to push passed him again,"What if you were already done?" The boy waved his hand and Lauren saw all the refugees settled, touching the mirage, it faded away to reveal the real people behind it."I'm Wes.""Nice to meet you Wes." Lauren commented as she stepped around him. She didn't notice Gus and John watching the interaction with displeasure.

John and Gus shared a glance as they watched Lauren step passed the teenaged refugee, deciding that they'd talk to Lauren about it. Heading towards the tech room, the pair sent one final look to Lauren before turning their attention to monitoring the scanners. John kept his attention half focused on the server to keep track of whatever anyone knew about what was going on.

After about 15 minutes, John and Gus were joined by Sage, Sonia, Shatter, Reed, Caitlin, Marcos, Lorna, and Lauren. The look of confusion on Reed and Caitlin's faces as Lauren took a seat next to John by the computers as John stood up."Everyone needs to understand something, this isn't just about hiding mutants anymore. We're taking the fight to the enemy. It's a matter of survival." John pointed to the photo on the desk,"Reed, what can you tell us about this building.""I wish I knew more. Some of my cases were transferred to Baton Rouge, there's a judge there, James Kriege, he dealt with most of my cases.""And how many folks that you prosecuted disappeared through this place?" Shatter growled,"It was rare. All they told me was that some of my cases were being prosecuted under a special federal program.""And you never asked for more information? Why?" Gus sneered, placing his fists on the desk, glaring at Reed,"Is that really important now?" Lauren commented."We're not debating this." John stated at the same time."Look, what matters now is getting those files. We need a way in, but we can't use Clarice, she's on her own job at the minute."

Half the group looked at John with confusion, it wasn't like Clarice to ditch in the middle of something this dangerous.

The tension in room began to build. Some of the group waiting for an explanation for Clarice's absence, the others trying to come up with a new plan."We could use Andy to get in." Lauren suggested, Reed and Caitlin scoffed at the idea, not even wanting to consider it."It's a wall, it's easy for me." Came Andy's voice from the doorway, "it's a matter of survival so surely if I can help, I should be helping.""Works for me." Gus stated, not relaxing from his place glaring at Reed.

The group split up as soon as the plan was settled: Reed, Andy, and Marcos would be taking a truck to Baton Rouge, Andy would break the wall, Reed and Marcos would steal the hard drives with the case files, Marcos would cover their tracks. As the group left John and Gus alone in the tech room, Gus' phone rang,"Hello?""Hi Honey." Came Taylor's voice, the tone making Gus chuckle,"How's it going?""Well I'm just arriving at my destination, wanted to let you know before I go radio silent.""You safe though?""As safe as I can be. Kiss Immy for me. I love you.""I love you too, and of course I will." The call ended.

Gus glanced over to John who wasn't even attempting to hide his smirk,"Shut up." He muttered, causing John to burst out laughing."I'm sorry, I'm just remembering your line to me from an hour before we rescued Taylor. I remember being on the phone to Clarice, coming back over to you guys and you saying that she –""Had you whipped." They were both laughing now,"Yeah well, we did sign up to this." Gus muttered as their laughter died down."It's difficult to imagine what life could've been… I mean if we hadn't found Tay.""She'd be our enemy, I bet. And one hell of a weapon." Gus murmured his agreement, neither of them really wanted to consider that possibility.

Marcos made his way into the tech room over an hour later, rolling his eyes at the sight of the pair that had hardly moved since the group had left."We're about to head out." He stated, his voice startling Gus, John had already heard his approach. The pair followed Marcos towards the van, listening as he ran over the plan one more time,"Be careful out there. Wish we could be with ya.""I'll miss you guys too." Marcos said with a smirk before turning serious, "we've got this, and you guys are needed here. Don't panic.""Alright, can the chatter." Gus muttered, rolling his eyes. Marcos jumped into the back of the truck just before the driver closed the doors. Watching the truck pull away, John shot a glance over to Gus,"It worry you that they're out there, possibly in danger, and we've got no way of knowing until they call us?" He asked, Gus just nodded slightly, he couldn't ignore the disturbing fear that had settled in the pit of his stomach.

Heading inside, the two friends were cornered by Lorna, she'd been training some of the kids and hadn't been able to get away in time to see Marcos off."Was he ok? When he left, was Marcos ok?""Yeah. Why wouldn't he be?" Gus asked,"Am I not allowed to worry?" She shot back."And then there were four." Came Lauren's voice as she joined them. Her comment drew chuckles from the other three,"Let's hope not." Lorna muttered, wrapping an arm around Lauren as she led the teenager away. They were all quickly building a tight friendship with Lauren, she'd become a part of their group, their circle.

The lorry had been on the road for about two hours before anyone really spoke, Andy had settled at one end of the trailer, leaving Marcos and Reed at the other,"How long have you know Taylor?" Reed asked, Marcos tensed at the question, he'd been expecting it but hoped Reed wouldn't ask it."I've known her, John, Gus, Clarice, and the three kids for just over three years. Rory and Evie have been best friends since the day they met. Why?""You don't know happened to her then?""Only what she chooses to tell me, and that's not a lot really, but you can't expect her to really want to." Marcos' eyes landed on Andy who'd tuned his attention to what Marcos was saying."So, what? She just doesn't tell anyone anything and expects to be told everything?" Andy sneered,"No... she tells John, Gus, and Clarice most things. John's in her head so they've got very few secrets because they literally can't keep them." Marcos chuckled at the idea, he'd always found their mental link amusing. He and Lorna both found it amusing the way they would glare at each other over thoughts the other one had had."Were they ever…" Reed's voice faded as Marcos turned to him,"John and Clarice were engaged when Gus and John rescued Taylor, her and John have been like brother and sister ever since. If Taylor's scared, she'll go to John. They were never a couple though, if that's what you're asking." Marcos couldn't help his smirk as Reed tensed when he mentioned John and Taylor being siblings.

The sounds of sirens caught the trio's attention, a voice yelling for the truck to pull over forced Marcos into action. The group listened as the driver tried to divert the police officer from opening the back of the truck,"I'm really running late to Denver,""Your name came up on a list from Sentinel Services, now open the back." The officer ordered. Inside the truck, Marcos ignored the other two arguing as he came up with a plan,"You two turn off the lights, I might be able to hide us." Reed looked at him exasperatedly,"There's nowhere to go.""I absorb light before I emit it, if I can absorb enough… stay quiet." Marcos began absorbing the light as he heard the officer and driver talking at the back of the truck.

The door opened and Marcos did his best to keep silent as the officer used a flashlight to see into the truck. After what felt like hours to Marcos, but in reality, was less than a minute, the officer was called away to an incident. As soon as the door closed, Marcos let up, dropping back as his body protested the amount of light he'd absorbed.

Forty miles south of the HQ, Taylor held her hands up in surrender as she stood at a gateway, guns aimed at her as she waited for her main contact."Lower your weapons!" Came a yell as a dark-skinned woman approached Taylor,"Well, well, I didn't expect to see you here so soon.""Yeah, well, I need information and you need keeping in the loop. Can we go inside?" The woman motioned for Taylor to follow her. Taylor couldn't ignore the eyes following her every move as she headed into the house behind the woman.

The house was sparse, but tastefully decorated as Taylor scanned her surroundings, doing her best to keep calm despite feeling trapped. The woman stopped in the living room, closing the door behind Taylor."What are you doing here, Taylor?""Look, Luka, I know you don't trust me-" Luka scoffed, "I know that you'd like me to stay away, but I learnt something today that you need to know, and I need to know if you've got any intel.""Go for it.""What do you know about the HOUND program?" Luka raised an eyebrow, not out of ignorance, but out of curiosity,"Why d'ya wanna know?""Because, someone I care about was a part of it. I need all the information you know on the HOUND program." Luka rolled her eyes, her lack of trust clear, but also an old friendship was clear behind her eyes."I'll see what my people know. Take this," Luka handed her a phone, "I'll call you with any info, you can call me if you ever need me." Now it was Taylor's turn to look confused,"You saved all our lives. The least I could do in return is help you when you ask after you've been gone for seven years." Taylor hugged Luka.

Arriving at Baton Rouge, Marcos, Andy, and Reed hesitated as they approached the heavily guarded federal building. Keeping a short distance away, Marcos dialled Lorna, asking for another way in. It took the trio several minutes to find the parking lot Lorna directed them to, it took them even longer to find the wall that was shared with the federal building. Within seconds, Andy had ripped a hole in the wall and was sent back to the truck as Marcos and Reed headed into the building.

The building was like a maze, but it didn't take the pair too long to find the room they were after. Reed was quick to find the files they were after, but it took Marcos several minutes in order to remove the hard drives.

Heading out of the room, Marcos let his had light up, ready to burn the room when Reed snatched his wrist,"What are you doing?!" Reed hissed,"Covering our tracks." Marcos stated, rolling his eyes as he pulled his hand from Reed,"What so you're just gonna burn the building?""You wanna leave them a thank you note?!" Marcos exclaimed sarcastically before setting the room on fire and leading Reed back to the truck.

Tension between Reed and Marcos was high when they arrived back at the truck, Marcos' anger building as Reed continued to argue with him about what they'd done,"Look man, they're trying to kill us. You wanna leave 'em a trail to our front door?" Marcos snapped as he sat on one of the benches. The driver closed the door, but Marcos didn't even acknowledge him as the truck began to move.

Back at HQ, Lorna was training some of the teenage refugees including Lauren, throwing saw blades and the likes at them so that they could use their powers to deflect them. Wes stepped up, waving his hand to make the tool box appear as a vase of flowers,"You think this is a joke?" Lorna growled at Wes,"Whatever." He muttered, dropping the mirage and stepping back into line"You guys don't understand. You're going to need to depend on each other just to survive. You wanna make it out there? You gotta work hard in here." Lorna took a breath before turning to her new friend,"Lauren, you're up next."

Lauren smirked as she stepped forward, she knew Lorna wouldn't let the saw blade touch her. Lorna prepped to throw the saw towards Lauren,"What the hell are you doing?" Caitlin asked as she saw what was happening in the back room,"Training. You might wanna move." Lorna stated simply,"I don't remember giving you permission to hurl saw blades at my kid." Caitlin snapped,"But you can give my older sister over, no questions asked?" Lauren muttered under her breath, but it was loud enough for both Caitlin and Lorna to hear."What was that?" Caitlin demanded,"You gave Taylor up, she couldn't defend herself. She's the one who said I should train, so I can protect myself when the time comes. I'm going to in order to honour her, honour the fact that she never got the chance!" Lauren snapped, stepping in front of her mother and preparing to create a shield.

Lorna threw the saw blade, watching closely as Lauren created a shield, but the shield wasn't like her normal ones, it was disk like and spinning towards the saw blade. The second the saw came in contact with the disk-like shield, it disintegrated, turning to dust. The group all stood wide eyes as Lauren dropped her hand,"What the…" Lorna smirked at the teenager,"You can weaponize your shields or use them for defence." Lauren grinned at the thought, glancing over to her mom, Lauren did her best not to let herself seem smug.

John jogged over to the tech room, finding Sage and Shatter inside,"Hey, just got word from the HQ in Alpharetta.""What happened? They get hit?" Shatter asked,"Yeah, they managed to get about half their people out. They're on their way here." Sage's eyes widened,"Here? We're already over capacity by at least 78%!" She exclaimed,"Guys, I'm sorry. We don't have a choice here. We need to do something, we need to find space for them." Sage and Shatter murmured their agreement, both heading off to try and find a way to fit another 30 refugees into the old bank.

Stumbling, John squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Taylor's voice echo in his mind," _John, please…_ "" _Taylor? What's up?_ " The rising hurt coming from Taylor set John on edge," _John they know. They know about HOUND program, they knew about it and they didn't tell me._ "" _Where are you? I'm on my way._ " John grabbed an overnight bag, packing only the essentials before he headed to find Lorna or Gus to ask them to keep an eye on the twins until he or Clarice got back.

Lorna and Gus shared a look as John left the HQ, leaving them beyond confused as to where he was going. They didn't have long to consider it when Gus' phone rang,"Marcos? How'd it go in Baton Rouge?""Good, we got what we needed, we're almost back.""Good,""Yeah I'm not so sure." At that comment, Gus put the phone on speaker as he led Lorna towards the tech room,"We've had a cop trailing us for a couple miles, no sirens but something doesn't feel right.""Check the traffic agency public notices to see if there's any directives to avoid Buford Highway. Is there anything?" Came Reed's voice,"Uh Yeah. Yeah, there is." Gus told them,"They know we're coming." Marcos muttered. Lorna couldn't hide her growing panic as Gus squeezed her shoulder.

The pair set about gathering the remaining main group, including Lauren and Caitlin. Sonia glanced around the group as they gathered around the table,"Where's Johnny?" She asked,"Got called away. Now focus on this." Gus snapped. The group all looked at him and Lorna, silently waiting to be filled in,"Marcos called us. A cop's been trailing them and there's a police road block in place. They're heading straight into an ambush." Lorna explained,"I don't understand, I thought they got away." Caitlin muttered, desperation filling her."A cop stopped them on the way up there. They didn't find anything, but the driver said he was going to Denver, so when the toll way cameras in Baton Rouge spotted them…""So what do we do?" Sonia asked, interrupting Gus."Wes could help." Lauren stated with certainty,"That boy who was flirting with you?" Gus asked, Lauren chose to ignore the comment, choosing instead to try and convince the group that he could help them."You saw him in training. He can make illusions, mirages, if they need to get away from the police.""That could work." Lorna muttered, nodding at the teenager's idea."I'll go get him." Lauren turned to leave before hesitating and turning back to Gus, Lorna, and her mom,"I want to go, too. If it doesn't work out, you'll need me." Gus and Lorna glanced over to Caitlin,"Go. Go, before I change my mind." She exclaimed. That was all it took for Lauren to run off to find Wes.

In less than ten minutes, Lorna, Wes, and Lauren were at the crossroads that the traffic agency was saying to avoid,"Ok, we're almost here, we should have eyes on it any moment." Lorna said into the phone."I don't want you guys getting caught." Marcos told her over the line,"Don't worry, we'll stay out of sight. And by the way, it's not nothing. Road block and tyre spikes. Dozens of cops.""Why don't they just turn around?" Lauren asked,"There's nowhere to go." Lorna turned her attention back to the call as she saw the truck come into sight,"Marcos, tell the driver to keep going, no matter what. Do not stop. Ok." The call ended.

Lorna turned to Lauren,"Your shields, they strong enough for a truck to drive over?" Lauren just shrugged,"I dunno, I've never tried." Lauren was worried, her dad, brother, and friend were relying on her."You just need to focus. You don't think about anything. Forget about everything but the target.I'll tell you when." Lorna reassured her, once Lauren had nodded, she turned to Wes,"After that, it's all you.""I've never done anything that big." Wes muttered with the same doubt Lauren had had moments ago."Then dig deeper." The trio turned their attention back to the truck that was approaching the road block, Lorna kept muttering for Lauren to wait until she finally instructed her to create the shield.

The truck drove over the shield, not loosing speed as all wheels left the ground and the truck was airborne. For several moments, the truck soared through the air as Lorna blocked the bullets. Once it had hit the ground, Lorna told Wes to create the mirage, the teenager made it look as though the truck went down both side streets."What if they followed the right truck?" Lauren asked once all the cars had followed either of the two 'trucks'."What truck?" Wes grinned, letting them see the real truck that had continued straight but had been hidden by a mirage that showed the empty street.

John found Taylor hidden in the woods not far from her contacts' compound, his shoulders dropped when he saw her curled up leaning against a tree."Taylor?" He whispered, crouching beside her."John?""Hey." He pulled her into his arms, holding her securely against his chest as she let her tears fall,"They don't trust me anymore." John tried to calm her down, but he knew it was better to just hold her when her emotions got too overwhelming for her. After several minutes, Taylor had calmed down enough to let go of John slightly,"Let's go home." He muttered, lifting her into his arms like he'd done hundreds of times before.

Once back at the HQ, John's phone buzzed as a text came through, he smiled when he saw who it was from,'Heya, I'm safe. Kiss my little ladies for me and I will see you soon XX Clare.' John headed to the room the four girls shared to make sure the twins were ok. He wasn't shocked to see Gus, Taylor, Marcos, and Lorna all already sat in the room telling the girls all about the past few days. John added his input every now and then. The group were laughing as the girls tried to stay awake to hear more stories.

As the adults left the room, Marcos' phone rang,"Hello.""It's me. Catch you at a bad time." The others all watched Marcos curiously,"Carmen?! What do you want?" Lorna's eyes widened at the name, Marcos glanced over to her, his eyes telling her he'd explain in a minute."I'm collecting on our deal, remember, I call and you come. If you refuse, my next call is to Sentinel Services." And with that, Carmen hung up.

Marcos watched Lorna carefully for a moment,"What the hell does Carmen want?" She snapped,"Lorna, she was the only person any of us could think of that would be able to find out the time and route for the prison convoy so we could get you out. Everything has been so mad since that I hadn't even thought about her calling to pick up her end. My help with… something." Lorna stepped back slightly before straightening up,"So, what do we do?""What she says. She'll call Sentinel Services if I don't." The group all shared a look. None of them liked the idea, but they liked the idea of Sentinel Services finding them even less."Ok." Lorna whispered.


End file.
